Horror movies, especially those of the J-Horror kind, often try to scare us with vengeful ghosts. The real ghosts in our lives, though, aren't those who crawl out of TV screens but the ones who haunt our memories. These ghosts exist as regrets, and trying to exorcise them can be a long and painful process.
Directed by Marc Forster ("Neverland"), "The Kite Runner" is an adaptation of Khaled Hosseini's 2003 best seller. It's a fantastic, deeply moving film about such regrets, and — as a line from the film puts it — the chance that "there is a way to be good again."
The film begins in San Francisco in the year 2000. Amir (Khalid Abdallah, "United 93"), an exile from Afghanistan, is about to celebrate the publication of his first novel with his wife, Soraya (Atossa Leoni), when the phone rings. It's an old family friend, Rahim Khan (Shaun Toub), telling Amir he must come visit him in Pakistan, immediately. By the tone of the conversation, it's clear Amir has no choice — the past has caught up with him.