Kathy (Jennifer Connelly) lives in her paternal house. Her husband has deserted her. But the real problem arises when she is forced out of her own house on the grounds of non-payment of house-taxes since a long time. The tax authorities put up the house for sale and it is bought up by an Iranian immigrant Behrani (Ben Kingsley) who has come to U.S alongwith his wife Nadi (Shohreh Aghdashloo) and son (Jonathan Ahdout). He wants to start his life afresh and that too with the same pride and honour which he had while he was serving in the Iranian army. But life is not all bed of roses as he had thought. Kathy is desperate to get her house back and is helped in her struggle by Lester (Ron Eldard), a cop and the new found love in Kathy's life. Lester too has a estranged wife. The first part of the story seems nothing unusual but what keeps you hooked on to the film is yet another revelation of the tremendous acting skills of Ben Kingsley that seems so much inherent to him. He has given yet another polished performance and has shown glimpses of his greatness as an actor. He speaks so less yet expresses too much with his eyes and actions. His portrayal of a disciplinarian who is proud of his country and culture, and would do anything for his family is exemplary . Another revelation is the actress, Shohreh Aghdashloo . She is too good in those scenes of her verbal discords with her husband. She plays the role of a lady with a golden heart to almost perfection. And how can you expect Jennifer Connelly to remain behind if she has got company of such great actors !!! The most stunning thing in her is her eyes and facial expressions. She uses them so beautifully to get into the body of the character. The scenes worth mentioning are the confrontations between Kathy and Behrani and the scene where Behrani almost goes insane when his son is hit by a bullet infront of his eyes. Another strong point of the film is it's ending . The director deserves kudos for giving such a nice, unusual and unpredictable ending . It's almost like the story taking a U-turn. You see that suddenly you get fully engrossed in the film despite majority of the first part being a bit flat.
Overall, it's a good movie with some very strong performances, intense situations and the presence of an element of surprise put in; which together act as an ingredient to fuel up your interest in the film and add up to the hype of it getting some really deserving Oscar nominations ( Best Actor in a Leading Role--Ben Kingsley, Best Actress in a Supporting Role--Shohreh Aghdashloo and Best Music,Original Score--James Horner ). A good movie to watch--- 8.5/10
Overall, it's a good movie with some very strong performances, intense situations and the presence of an element of surprise put in; which together act as an ingredient to fuel up your interest in the film and add up to the hype of it getting some really deserving Oscar nominations ( Best Actor in a Leading Role--Ben Kingsley, Best Actress in a Supporting Role--Shohreh Aghdashloo and Best Music,Original Score--James Horner ). A good movie to watch--- 8.5/10