Lost in the fog

**1/2

House of Sand and Fog was quite dissapointing to say the least. I don't really trust Oscar nominees, but the movie was a total let-down. The first two thirds of the movie are nothing to write about at all. The action picks up in the third part in whirlwind of events. The movie attempted to masquerade as a Shakesperian tradedy with no heroes or villains. Just ordinary people caught up in whirlpool of circumstances. Which is always makes a great story. This movie does an outstanding job of messing it all up. I would rate Connelly's performance as the best in the film. I don't think that Ben Kingsley did an outstanding job and his nomination was unjustified. He seemed to be hamming. Sad!
I would just classify this movie's claim to recent fame as a modern mystery. The plot is a stretch to believe. Some of the factual goof's are too obvious to mention here. I bet the book was better as it presented the Shakespearian tragedy well enough. Vadim Perelman in his directorial debut has fallen flat on his face. This whole movie was fogged up. Horner's score was good, but played too often.
Even more intriguing is to see Shoreh Aghdashloo who was nominated for an Oscar. She hardly has a role and her acting is nothing remarkable, except for the one scene which is shown over and over again. Its just that scene. I have yet to see any casting as unbelievable as this. Ron Eldard who plays Connelly's boyfriend-lover was pathetic. One wonders if the casting director was on drugs or the movie faced some budget cuts after Kinsley and Connelly being cast that they had to pick this guy. He was so expressionless and hopeless on screen that next time they need a dead person they should use him.
I just felt that the Kingsley and Connelly were totally wasted in this movie at the hands of a incompetent director. Shame!
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If you have seen this movie, can you explain the reason other than a smart publicity machine what's so great about this film? If you have not seen this film, try to see it for free. Its not worth the $$'s.