Our Rating: 3.00
Housecleaner Kathy Nicolo (Jennifer Connelly) really should start reading her mail, or at least collecting it from inside her front door. If she did, she’d know that she’s embroiled in a tax dispute that’s about to lose her the Nicolo family home. But this negligent ex-alkie takes no such steps, so her can gets tossed out on the street and the house becomes the property of an Iranian colonel (Ben Kingsley) who’s trying to recapture the upward mobility of his glory days under the Shah. Things really start to go downhill when, to get her digs back, Kathy enlists the aid of a deputy sheriff (Ron Eldard) with no visible scruples. For a time, the lack of a genuinely likable character is intriguing, and the clash between native entitlement and expatriate pluck has a nicely xenophobic subtext. But as the movie drags on (and Kathy’s bad judgment spirals into absurdity), you realize that director Vadim Perelman — who adapted the material from a novel by Andre Dubus III — is mostly interested in telling a story about real estate. His “House” is “Pacific Heights” with Oscar aspirations, and though Kingsley’s stately performance might warrant a nomination, it won’t be a crime if he loses. And don’t expect any honors for the truly maddening musical score, which sounds uncannily like an elevator bell.
This article appears in Dec 24-30, 2003.