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
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
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