House of Sand and Fog ****

Cast: Ben Kingsley, Jennifer Connelly, Ron Eldard, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Jonathan Ahdout, Frances Fisher
Director: Vadim Perelman

When Kathy Nicolo is evicted from her house because of a failure to pay taxes, Massoud Amir Behrani, an immigrant from Iran, purchases it for a fraction of the value at an auction. For Kathy, this house was all she had -- her husband has left her and the house was given to her by her father when he died. For Massoud, this is an opportunity to plan for the future (by reselling at four times the cost) and reclaim some of the status that he and his family had in Iran. The problem is that the tax was a mistake. By the time Kathy does anything, Massoud legally owns the house, and does not want to lose this huge deal. Kathy befriends a police officer that attempts to help her by harassing and threatening Massoud's family. The tension builds and builds, mostly due to Lester the policeman's actions, and before long the situation is at the breaking point. The acting in this movie is top notch all around, especially from Kingsley as the proud immigrant that just wants to take advantage of the American way to help his family. He should get nominated for an Oscar and could very well win. This is easily one of the best movies released in 2003.