5/5 Heavy Mortgage...
  by Bindy Sue Frønkünschtein (under the rubble)
My taste runs more toward the macabre. I am a horror nut. However, movies do come along that drag me out of my comfort zone, forcing me to try something different. HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG is this type of movie. The name Jennifer Connelly (Phenomena, The Labyrinth, Requiem For A Dream, Dark City) was what drew me to this tragic tale of stubborn indignation and desolating pride. She is a wonderful actress, starring in many personal favorites. Here, Ms. Connelly's character faces off w/ Ben Kingsley (Gandhi, Schindler's List, Species) in a duel of wills that leads only to destruction. Two people battle over possession of a house. Both are right in their own way, and certainly in their own determined minds. Who will blink first? Who will submit? As with all such wars, each side believes its own propaganda. Each warrior sees him / herself as the righteous one, taking on an insane, evil aggressor. Locked in a struggle to the bitter end, these two will not relent until the war is won. Unfortunately, there can be no winner. There will only be anguish, criminality, and senseless death. Such is war, large or small...

4/5 A Shocker
  by John F. Rooney
"House of Sand and Fog" is a shocker of a movie. The clashes of the American and Iranian cultures are made all too real as a young woman (Jennifer Connelly) battles a former Iranian colonel (Ben Kingsley) over her repossessed house which he had bought at auction. To say that Sir Ben overacts might be too strong, but he sure does emote and he is very intense, yes, very intense. His face can be very grim and fierce at times.
Connelly plays a self-indulgent brat who because of addiction issues didn't keep track of the county mail that was coming to her warning her of repossession. Ben wants to flip the house and get something better. The house has a beautiful view of the sea, reminding Ben, his wife and teenage son of the beautiful view of the Caspian Sea they had before they were forced to flee Iran.
A bent deputy sheriff, who is a bigot, a self-indulgent boy-man, falls for Jennifer and comes to her aid, threatening Ben with deportation even though he's an American citizen. He's the one who precipitates the tragedy.
This drama is told in very realistic terms; the acting is fine, and it will have an impact upon you as you view it. The story is set up almost like a Greek tragedy; there's an inevitability about the situation and the working out of the plot. Everything seems so simple, but because Ben and Jennifer are so relentless and single-minded, there is no easy way out. With emotions running so high, anything is apt to happen. The ending will leave most viewers shaken.


5/5 Quick!
  by E. Eubanks (New Jersey)
I am grateful for this fast delivery. It was a school assignment and I received my "used" but a great condition book.

3/5 2.5 stars out of 4
  by One-Line Film Reviews (Easton, MD)
The Bottom Line:

House of Sand and Fog boasts good peformances by Connelly and Kingsley, but every time it appears to be approaching greatness it's interrupted by Captain Plot Device, Ron Eldred, whose character almost singlehandedly ruins the movie by stripping it of its natural flow; what could have been a powerful movie instead becomes a manipulative one.

5/5 Satisfied
  by Willie Barnes (St. Louis, Mo.)
This Movie was to "REPLACE A PRIOR MOVIE OF THE SAME TITLE" I purchased this movie from another seller and when I receive it I didn't watch it right away, but the box wouldn't close and the movie wouldn't stay in place and when I started to watch the movie I got to the middle of the movie I couldn't go any further, therefore it was to either leave it at that or buy another movie, so I bought a replacement and of course I had already given a rating to the seller, which I'm still angry about, because I had to buy the movie twice but that was my fault for waiting too long to watch it, I am happy with this movie and I did watch it. I won't do the other again and I hope I never buy from the other company again.