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House of Sand and Fog

By John Anderson | STAFF WRITER

December 19, 2003

Jennifer Connelly plays an alcoholic who fights desperately to get back her house she lost at auction in "House of Sand and Fog," opening Dec. 26. (Photo by Bruce Birmelin)

(R). An impossible situation puts a troubled young California woman and an emigre Iranian military man at odds, in a story that reflects much of what it means to be American. Haunting, and brilliantly acted; Jennifer Connelly is revelatory. With Ben Kingsley, Ron Eldard, Shoreh Aghdashloo, Jonathan Ahdout. Screenplay by Vadim Perelman and Shawn Otto, from the novel by Andre Dubus III. Directed by Vadim Perelman. 2:06 (sex, violence, language). At the Lincoln Square, Broadway at 68th Street, Manhattan. Goes wide Dec. 26.

Once upon a time, bad times nationally meant good times cinematically (see: umbilical linkage between Great Depression and screwball comedy). But then, some of the darkest American movies were made in the dark Nixonian days of the early '70s. The economically heady, good-time Clinton era was a bacchanalia of happy endings. Where are we now?

In a time, it seems, in which movies reflect rather than react to the mood of their audience - which seems a far healthier thing for that audience, and for the films, than trying to torture every possible ending into something that won't give sleepless nights to the marketing department of a given major studio.

Tragedy, after all, has been around since Sophocles (OK, Genesis); Shakespeare has had a pretty good run with it, too. And that's because great tragedy exalts us, ultimately: In its height and breadth and depth of emotion, it portrays life as the profound thing it always ought to be. And in its richness of feeling, there is joy and self-validation - because, let's face it, only a thinking, astute and sensitive human could appreciate what tragedy has to tell him.

Which is not to say that "House of Sand and Fog" is the feel-good movie of 2003. But it is one of the most important, and a beautiful thing to look at, and maybe cry over. Through its tragic story line - tragic in the true, hubris- loaded, Grecian sense - it might even provoke its audience into a reassessment of what it means to live in this country, and what this country means.

Based on the Oprah's Book Club-anointed novel by Andre Dubus III, "House of Sand and Fog" stars Jennifer Connelly as Kathy Nicolo, a recovering alcoholic whose husband has left her and who has stopped opening her mail - wherein lies a notice that the county is seizing her property for unpaid taxes. That Kathy doesn't owe the taxes doesn't stop the auctioning of her home, which she inherited from her late father. And it doesn't stop its purchase by Massoud Amir Behrani (Ben Kingsley), an emigre, ex-Shah-era Iranian air force colonel who's been reduced to working road construction and putting up a false economic front, and sees the undervalued house as his tow-hitch to the American Dream.

We more or less expect the kind of personality-inhabiting, precisely accented performance delivered here by Kingsley; his Massoud is a staunchly military mess, whose doubts about his own character (he's married off a daughter by feigning wealth) reflect those about his new country ("Americans don't deserve what they have," etc. etc.). But Connelly's performance, arguably the tougher of the two, is a direct hit. That this is surprising is our fault, not hers. Despite her Oscar and other recognition (for "A Beautiful Mind"), the actress is probably still thought of primarily as a very pretty face. Her work in "House of Sand and Fog," which plenty of other actresses would have hyperbolized to death, is a tour de force of understated regret.

With terrific supporting performances by veteran Iranian actress Shoreh Aghdashloo and Jonathan Ahdout, as Massoud's wife and son, and Frances Fisher as Kathy's legal aid lawyer, the film is directed by a first-time feature maker, Vadim Perelman, who made his reputation in commercials. That, and the stunning cinematography of Roger Deakins, seem to imply that "House of Sand and Fog" was simply a movie meant to be, and meant to be first-rate.