House of Sand and Fog 2003

     This film is based on a novel written by Andre Dubus III.   Kathy is an emotionally broken woman.  She suddenly finds herself homeless after her house is wrongly repossessed and auctioned. Seeking respite from his marriage, Lester is a sympathetic sheriff's deputy and he comes to the aid of Kathy.  He also becomes intimately involved in her situation.  Soon, Behrani, a proud emigrant Iranian and his family move into the house.  They find their new lives burdened by harassment from the team of Lester and Kathy as they attempt to reclaim her former home.  The once prosperous Iranian colonel denies Kathy's pleas to get her house back.   He knows his recent purchase promises a profitable return and a better future for his adolescent son and his wife.  But latent consequences lie beneath Behrani's well intentioned plan.  Kathy's emotions spiral out of control and her actions spark a tragic chain of events.   Will anyone be unscathed in the struggles of the House of Sand and Fog .
     Kathy has experienced the breakup of her marriage and she retreats to her house.  She was left the house by her father and her brother in their wills.  For added insulation from the world she has started a practice of not opening her mail.  Then she endures this emotional drama between her family and another family over the struggle for ownership of her house.  The plot of this film very deep plus extremely dark and depressing.  Kathy sees her house as a refuge and she feels safe inside the house.  The fight between Kathy and Behrani isn’t about money but it is about a home and a retreat from the world.       
     This movie has extreme, graphic and tragic violence including murder, attempted and successful suicides, domestic abuse and an accidental shooting.  Characters drink and smoke, including an alcoholic character who ends a period of sobriety and returns to drink.  Characters use very strong language and there are many harsh and painful confrontations.  5* (I really liked this movie) 

126 min, Crime directed and written by Vadim Perelman and also written by Andre Dubus III and Shawn  Lawrence Otto with Jennifer Connelly, Ben Kingsley, Ron Eldard, Frances Fisher, Kim Dickens, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Jonathan Ahdout, Navi Rawat, Carlos Gomez, Kia Jam, Jaleh Modjallal, Samira Damavandi, Matthew Simonian, Namrata Singh Gujral, Nasser Faris.

Note:  Goodreads give the book 3.85* out of 5* with 126,026 ratings and 4100 reviews, Imdb 7.5 out of 64,807 reviews, Rotten Tomatoes 74% with 182 critics 83% with 42,509 audience scores, Common Sense Media Nell Minow, age 17+, 4* out of 5*, 5* violence, sex, language, 3* drinking, drugs, smoking, Roger Ebert 4*, empireonline 3* out of 5* Angie Errigo, Amazon 4.4* out of 5* with 613 reviews.

Special Note:  Author Andre Dubus III received more than one hundred offers from movie studios who wanted to make his book into a movie.  Sir Ben Kingsley was given a copy of the novel by author Andre Dubus III’s wife.  This was before Ben was approached to star in the movie. 

Mistakes:  There is a boom mic clearly visible in numerous scenes near the beginning of the movie, it can be distracting because it is so visible unless it has been corrected before the DVD release?  The Newspaper Auction Notice: Seized Property for Sale reads "2BR", yet the man showing the house says it has three bedrooms?