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Oct 11, 2014lukasevansherman rated this title 2.5 out of 5 stars
Very few movies earn 5 stars, certainly not this one. I would say read the novel by Andre Dubus III first, but then you'll probably be disappointed in the film. The book is a domestic drama that plays out like a taut, intense thriller with an almost Greek sense of doom and tragedy. Ben Kingsley (has any contemporary actor played a greater variety of races?) is an Iranian ex-Colonel working hard to buy a house for his wife and child. He gets one for cheap at auction; a house that was repossessed from Jennifer Connelly's struggling, damaged character. Their lives then become dangerously intertwined as she tries to get her house back, with the help of a married cop (a dude who was on "Justified"), and Kingsley, proud and stubborn, refuses to budge. Tastefully, if drably, directed and well-acted, especially by Kingsley and Shohreh Aghdashloo, as his wife, it lacks the power of the book and ends up being more grim and depressing (like "Mystic River," "21 Grams," "In the Bedroom") than tragic. Also, could've used more sand.