Tragedy certainly leaves its mark on you, especially in this film. As depressing as a film this is, I found the performances in this movie so very, very appealing. Mainly Ben Kingsley's tour de force performance as a middle eastern father supporting his family. Although the story kinda slips in the third half, this film should mainly be admired for its character development and acting along with a very interestingly visualized use of cinematography.
First and foremost, the acting in this movie is absolutely top notch with Ben Kingsely leading the pack. I didn't know of what to expect when I started to watch this film, only to find as the movie progressed I would get more engaged in the characters. Every character has their own shade of emotion that they express and it gives extreme depth to a very well rounded cast. You can really feel for the characters as things progressively get worse for everyone. Not just a physical struggle is depicted in the film but an emotional struggle within each character.
While the movie's story line swells into a very overtly depressing and dramatic ending, its really the ride of getting there that is the most interesting. Based on a book by Andre Dubus III, the script feels very lively. Every character is explained and fleshed out with realistic thoughts and feelings. The lines of good and bad blur, causing you to have to pick sides and choose what character you deem to be in the right. A very fresh thing for a film script.
And visually this film is very well shot. The cinematography progressively gets moodier and moodier as the film continues. Depicting fog and dark streets lit only by ghostly streetlamps. It gives a physical and illustrated picture of the struggle of two worlds clashing over a house.
At the end, the movie's tempo does kinda weigh you down with a very dramatic turn for the worst, but all in all the film is very much worth a watch. But I may warn you, you may need a box of tissues to accompany you with a copy of this film.
