Archive for February 2004
House of Sand and Fog - 2004-02-28 09:58:22
This is actually a good film, I had reservations since the Iranian in-laws were raving about it which I didn't think was a good sign.
Ben Kingsley is absolutely brilliant as the Iranian father. In fact, I suspect there are hidden cameras in the in-laws' home since I swear Kingsley was doing an impersonation of my father-in-law. From his way of speaking to his posture and way of walking - it was surreal. In fact the entire Iranian thing is captured almost flawlessly.
Shohreh Aghdashloo was good too, and was why the in-laws were all excited since apparently she's a friend of an Aunt or some such distant link. Jennifer Connelly can also act, but was miscast - in my opinion anyway - and Kingsley stole the film from her.
To balance the quality acting they found the worst writers imaginable.
The characters were too flat - though on the most part the actors saved the day in that respect. Not enough sympathy was generated for key characters. And even though Kingsley has enough screen presence to steal a film any day of the week the writers made it even easier by destroying Kathy's (Connelly) supposedly leading role.
Well worth seeing just to get away from the normal Hollywood everyone makes up, gets married, and lives happily ever after endings. Though from what I hear there are a number of such non-happy-clappy films at the moment (Mystic River
for one example, though I haven't seen it or even a preview of it) so it can't be classified as a breath of fresh air.
Overall, the film is weak due to the writer's destroying the main character - but is more than just saved by the acting. Well worth seeing, as long as you don't want a fairy tail ending.
Note: I blamed the writers, but it could have been the directing or the fault of the gaffer for all I know about film making. The writers seem the likely cause, and by picking them I can pretend to know what I'm talking about and be a poshy film reviewer for a minute.