A husband strikes his wife in the heat of an argument, and later instructs his son not to follow his example when he is married. That’s just one minor lesson in how not to do things in this veritable school of bad choices. Kathy (Jennifer Connelly) is a troubled woman who loses her house due to unwillingness to deal with her personal issues. She’s a walking trainwreck that catches the sympathy of Lester (Ron Eldard), a cop with questionable practices looking for an excuse to leave his unfulfilling marriage. Kathy’s house is auctioned off for a bargain to Massoud (Ben Kingsley), whose family is struggling to get by, and to face the reality that their once-lavish lifestyle is gone since fleeing Iran. These damaged characters are all desperate to regain the homes they let slip away, and their rash confrontations quickly build to a boil. It’s a heavy film with no “good guy” to easily identify with. We can still understand how the characters make the dangerous decisions that lead them towards catastrophe, but it makes for a painful ride.

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