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Jennifer Connelly is Kathy, who has recently fallen into a spiral of depression and isolation following a romantic betrayal by her ex-lover. Ben Kingsley is Behrani, the proud Iranian immigrant who must work two jobs to support his wife Nadi (Shohreh Aghdashloo) and son Esmail (Jonathan Ahdout). After Kathy is wrongly fined a business tax she fails to pay, the state forecloses on her mortgage, and Behrani, who senses the business opportunity that will at last allow he and his family to reclaim their lost fortunes, picks it up for a song at auction. But Kathy, desperate to reclaim her home, turns to local cop Lester Burdick (Ron Eldard) for support, and what begins as a struggle over a rundown bungalow soon spirals into a clash of emotions and cultures that will threaten to destroy the lives of all involved.

House of Sand and Fog is a film with a very simple theme - it is people, not property, that ultimately matters most - yet it is so heavy-handed and overloaded with unbelievable plot contrivances that it ultimately collapses like a house of cards. There is nothing wrong with a film being about irrational, ignorant or vengeful people, but when it is as self- important as this one, it runs the risk of turning its characters into symbols. Which is what is exactly what happens here. Kathy and Behrani are initially drawn with very broad strokes, which makes for a first act that is confident and gripping. But the screenplay, adapted from Andre Dubus III's acclaimed novel by Vadim Perelman (who also directed) and Shawn Lawrence Otto, fails to flesh out subsequent motivations. The film quickly degenerates into a series of wholly unbelievable scenes and plot twists that, for me, turned comical.

To say that Kathy is an enormously frustrating character would be an understatement - it is not that anyone as beautiful as Connelly cannot be this depressed, just that the script fails to explain why she engages in such self-destructive and isolating behavior. Kingsley and Aghdashloo are terrific, but they can only do so much with characters who are initially sympathetic but also, too, become far too rigid, reduced to typical cliches of foreign-bred honor, nobility and shameful silence. But faring worst of all is Eldard's Lester, a character so poorly drawn it is impossible to understand the rationale behind his ridiculous actions. Vadim and Otto never explore his growing attraction to Kathy, one apparently so powerful he is willing to sacrifice his job and entire family for, let alone so egregiously break the law that one quickly roots for his speedy demise.

As a production, House of Sand and Fog just may be one of the most impressive of 2003. The cinematography by Roger Deakins is simply gorgeous - every shot of this film is one suitable for framing - and Perelman's direction is fluid and effortless. And Oscar contenders Kingsley and Aghdashloo deserved their nominations: each imbues their characters with the kind of quiet dignity and soulfullness that never lets you see the seams - they are flawless performances. Which only made me more depressed as House of Sand and Fog lurched its way into its third act and disintegrated right before my very eyes. When the film trots out the death of a child in a plot contrivance that is almost offensive, all I could do was laugh at how I was being asked to invest myself in characters this dopey. Whatever its considerable virtues, and ultimately life-affirming themes, House of Sand and Fog is a message movie of the worst kind: it is made so well it almost makes you forget it is so shamefully manipulative it should be condemned.

Video: How Does The Disc Look?

I was not a fan of House of Sand and Fog as a film, but I was of its visual style, which is magnificent. And what a beautiful transfer! Presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen, it looks stunning: few and far between are DVDs that look this life-like, this three-dimensional. The source print is pristine, with rich, deep blacks and excellent contrast. Colors are vivid and rendered perfectly, with solid and stable hues and no smearing or bleeding. Detail is often exquisite, with even the many dark and foggy scenes revealing fine textures and excellent shadow delineation. If I have anything to complain about, it may be a very slight amount of edge halos around objects, but it is generally minor. And there are also no apparent compression artifact problems. Terrific!

Audio: How Does The Disc Sound?

House of Sand and Fog also sounds very, very good, although its sound design is somewhat subdued compared to the visual splendor of its photography. Frequency response on this Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack is certainly excellent, with crystal clear midrange, warm and open highs and often deep bass. This very dialogue-heavy film sports pitch-perfect balance between music, effects and spoken word, and stereo separation across the front soundstage is very good. Surround use is consistent and fairly aggressive, although I did hope for a bit more sustained ambience, especially for a film this moody. But discrete effects are apparent and nicely done, with tight imaging across all channels. A strong soundtrack, if not quite remarkable.

Also included is a French Dolby 5.1 dub included, along with English, French and Spanish subtitles and English Closed Caption options.

Supplements: What Goodies Are There?

A decent-sized hit for a smaller, more somber character-driven film, House of Sand and Fog has gotten the special edition treatment on DVD courtesy of DreamWorks Home Entertainment. Both the screen-specific audio commentary with Perelman, Dubus and Kingsley, and the 24-minute featurette Behind the Scenes, which is essentially interviews with Perelman, Dubus and Kingsley again, plus Otto, Deakins and the cast, are sometimes redundant and cover the same ground. However, Perelman is extremely passionate about the material, and I felt quite frustrated that I just wasn't able to enjoy his film more. As eloquent as is possible (as is Kingsley, who has a voice of such strength and presence) about his intentions for the film, his amazing cast, and the impeccable work of Deakins, he certainly makes his case with great intelligence. And Kingsley wrings poignant moments about he he so empathized with his character. Certainly, for fans of the film, both the commentary and the featurette are required viewing. For those more casual, you can probably make do just with the featurette.

Also included are six deleted scenes, all presented in anamorphic widescreen and with or without optional commentary. Since I was left largely unmoved by the film, nothing here swayed me further; however, the scenes are nicely done and contain a bit more character insight, and certainly look quite good. Worth a look for fans. You will also find here a 6-minute Audition Tape for Aghdashloo, which shows immediately how right she was for the part. Also included is a very nice still gallery that can be viewed two ways - either in a traditional frame-by-frame manner, or as an animated slide show with audio interviews and clips overlaid on the top. Very elegant and nicely done.

Rounding it out are standard if better-than-average filmographies for cast and crew and some solid production notes, although oddly, the film's theatrical trailer is not included.

DVD-ROM Exclusives: What do you get when you pop the disc in your PC?

There are no ROM extras included.

Parting Thoughts