From the department of 10 minute reviews... Last night I saw The House of Sand and Fog, a textbook tragedy in that a good, honorable man's situation and human failings lead to his complete and total undoing. Ben Kingsley emerged so clearly as the protagonist - due both to his performance and the script - that it was almost tough to tolerate Jennifer Connely's character, who's a real fuck-up. Almost an antagonist--not the anti-hero that I think (?) was the script's intention. Connely herself gave a good performance, but her character simply had more agency than it deserved. Her most sympathetic moment was her brief, spot-on revelation: "My father worked 30 years to pay off this house and it took me 8 months to fuck it up." It's a very good movie, with one major flaw that almost derails the entire effort. The villain in the story is a philandering cop who abuses his badge and goes from Daddy dearest to deranged criminal in a week's time. His part is crucial, plot-wise, to get us into the tragic third act -- and sadly he's the weakest character in the script. That was a big problem for me, because it made me feel like I could see the man behind the curtain--the writer--who's not telling a true story of human suffering, but is actually a sadist who'll do whatever he can to make sure his audience suffers through his grueling plot machinations. As soon as I felt those machinations, I pulled back. But maybe it's odd to demand that your tragedies be realistic. The Greek tragedies are very telegraphic, and though they never made me weep, I think they were supposed to have that effect on the Greeks--that's "catharsis," right? But actually, I'd have to go back and read them, because it could be that while they're highly stylistic, from a human behavior point of view they're very precise. And The House of Sand and Fog clearly worked as a tragedy for many in the audience. A woman two rows ahead was openly sobbing, leaning on her boyfriend's shoulder, her hair mussed and her shoulders shaking. I *was* in low-blood sugar mode, it should be pointed out, which does put a chill on my empathetic abilities - and still I did shed a tear or two. But I tend to be a wailer, and I wasn't anywhere near it. It was also an invested crowd. The theatre was barely a mile from the L.A. neighborhood that has the largest concentration of expat Iranians in the United States--all people who fled from the Shah as did the story's protagonist. The third act holds one of the most arresting sequences I've seen in a movie in the last year -- right up there with the Pipping singing/Feromere (sp?) sequence in the new LOTR. *** posted by Sara 2:07:00 PM . . .
PEOPLE&PLACES
Lane McFadden Moxie Tony Pierce
BANDS TK VOICES
Emmanuelle Evan McElravy Jim Dedman IV Isle of Ewe Jesse Walker Matt Welch Radley Balko Russ the Foodie Julian Sanchez Stacey Nightmare HOME </noscript>
