House of Sand and Fog
DreamWorks Distribution | Release Date: December 19, 2003 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
71
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 41 Critic Reviews
Positive:
30
Mixed:
10
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
TimeRichard Schickel
As reversible misunderstandings grow into irreversible tragedy, it slowly dawns on you that this is a superior, heartbreaking film. Read full review
100
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
Its step-by-step tragedy is so ruthless in its unfolding, you may find yourself wishing it were less well done, that it left you some room to breathe. But House of Sand and Fog has a story to tell and it means to tell it, no matter what the cost. Read full review
100
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
It stands with integrity and breaks our hearts. Read full review
90
VarietyTodd McCarthy
A faithful, powerful and superbly acted adaptation of Andre Dubus III's international bestseller. Read full review
90
SalonAndrew O'Hehir
Features an astonishing pair of lead performances and one of this year's most impressive directing debuts. If this movie isn't quite the contempo-Greek tragedy it wants to be, it's still a powerful, unforgettable meditation on fate, cultural collision and the morality of renovating a house that isn't really yours. Read full review
90
Washington PostDesson Thomson
The movie's intense watchability can be traced directly to superb performances by Jennifer Connelly and Ben Kingsley. Read full review
90
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
Responsibility for the ensuing tragedy is so finely calibrated that neither can be comprehensively blamed or exculpated. Read full review
88
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
This is a hard, challenging motion picture. It demands much from the audience, and repays that investment with powerful, engrossing drama that does not offer insulting, facile answers. House of Sand and Fog is gripping and unforgettable, one of the best movies of 2003. Read full review
88
USA TodayClaudia Puig
The clash over the house quickly escalates into a modern-day tragedy. It is a fascinating film, handsomely adapted from the book and well directed. Read full review
88
PremiereGlenn Kenny
Ben Kingsley and Jennifer Connelly create characters that live and seethe with absolute credibility, and Ron Eldard’s Lester is a subtle portrait of a good man who lets himself go bad, first out of boredom, then out of erotic fixation. Read full review
88
New York PostLou Lumenick
A grim, challenging movie that will amply reward audiences willing to go along with its ride into the dark depths of its characters' souls. Read full review
88
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
Perelman and Otto make auspicious, nearly flawless debuts. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Just because a scenario turns dark doesn't mean that it's convincing. House of Sand and Fog is artful until it lunges for Art. Read full review
80
NewsweekDavid Ansen
Novelist Andre Dubus's plotting may be too much for a two-hour movie. But the story's details feel fresh. The vivid clarity of the images, the compressed fury of the tale, are impossible to get out of your head. Read full review
80
The New York TimesDana Stevens
The nearly flawless execution of a deeply flawed premise. Read full review
80
Dallas ObserverBill Gallo
This is not pleasant stuff, but it's important, and thoroughly heart-wrenching. Read full review
80
New York Magazine (Vulture)Peter Rainer
The performances are amazing. Read full review
80
The New RepublicStanley Kauffmann
The plot that follows, including the wretched young woman who lost the house, is of interest only insofar as Kingsley supports the structure with a powerful man. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
It's a sad, rich story, full of misunderstandings, bad bargains, odd parallels. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Before it runs off course into excess, this brilliantly acted film version of the 1999 novel by Andre Dubus III moves with a stabbing urgency. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
There is both a sense of disappointment and relief when House of Sand and Fog crosses over into improbability, when the viewer can sit back, breathe easy again. All this trouble over the failure to open an envelope. Read full review
75
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
What makes the movie potent, though, has nothing to do with metaphor or parable. It's that the story provides Connelly, Kingsley and Shohreh Aghdashloo as Kingsley's wife with all the tools they need to resurrect, flesh out, revamp and criticize outmoded male and female roles. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
The movie's emotional impact is undeniable. It's a devastating portrait of smart, civilized people driven to behave in uncivilized ways, until it's too late. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
Remember the name Shohreh Aghdashloo. The heartbreakingly fine Iranian actress is only a subsidiary character in House of Sand and Fog...But she is the soul of this pungent film. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterSheri Linden
The carefully laid foundation of suspense and dread, with its symmetries and crisp dialogue, is squandered in a clumsy pileup of credulity-stretching cataclysmic events. Read full review
70
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
Though the film is somber, it certainly commands one's attention, and for a while one's respect.
70
Film ThreatDavid Grove
Might've been a great film without Lester, the Deputy, getting in the way of the key relationship between Behrani and Kathy. Read full review
70
Film ThreatRick Kisonak
Exceptional performances and unexpected twists of plot keep the story from descending into overwrought melodrama. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarrit Ingman
A sterling example of what Hollywood can accomplish when it puts its trust into an offbeat project whose creative team has a different perspective on American life. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
Exacting but disappointing thriller. Read full review
60
EmpireAngie Errigo
There's a desperately inevitable, powerfully tragic last reel, but getting there is absolute torture. Read full review
50
Village VoiceEd Park
The clunky manipulations of plot, and the sorry fate awaiting everyone in this foggy House is less wrenching than acted. Read full review
50
L.A. WeeklyElla Taylor
Everything about the movie seems excessive to the material. What should have been a small, independent feature without marquee casting -- the story's protagonists, after all, are meant to be the kind of people nobody ever notices. Read full review
50
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
The first hour is excellent, spinning an ethically and emotionally compelling tale. Narrative logic fades during the second half, though, reducing the movie's impact on every level. Read full review
50
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
In the end, it's just a pointless downer. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
There's a dignity about it, and it's only later that we come to realize that this dignity is misplaced, born of a fatal reserve and a lack of complete investment. Read full review
50
The New YorkerDavid Denby
The ineluctable downward pull of absolutely everything in this movie is more exasperating than moving. [12 January 2004, p. 86]
42
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
Grim, sordid and, as it progresses, increasingly dunderheaded. Read full review
40
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
Perleman has little control over his characters; they simply go to pieces in the most ludicrous ways. He has even less control over Kingsley, who soon slips into full-blown Yul Brynner mode. Read full review
40
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
Folds like a house of cards, collapsing under its own flimsy foundation. Read full review
30
SlateDavid Edelstein
This is a movie that sends you out shuddering, chuckling nervously, wanting to tell the people in line for the next show, "It's the feel-bad movie of the year!" Read full review
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