Things We Lost in the Fire (2007)

Susanne Bier's 2007 movie, Things We Lost in the Fire sees Halle Berry as Audrey Burke, a recently widowed woman, who enters into an unexpected relationship with a figure from her late spouse's life. If that sounds at all familiar, it's because there are definite parallels to Berry's 2001 Oscar winning turn in Monster's Ball.With a looming awards season around the corner, it's possible that the studio considered this to be another contender to show off Ms Berry's acting prowess. Following rolls in the likes of Die Another Day, Gothika and her Razzie winning performance in Catwoman, it had perhaps escaped the film watching populous' attention that under some bad career choices, there lies a very capable actor. Bier's film falls short of Oscar bait, but it doesn't have the feel of a film that's desperately trying to be worthy. There's a subtly genuine tone to the performances in the film. What could easily be over sentimentalised, Lifetime drama is a well-handled and compelling tale of love, loss, grief and recovery.Benicio Del Toro performance as Jerry Sunborne, the deadbeat heroin addict whom everyone gave up on, except Burke's late husband, is well nuanced. The depiction of drug addiction is neither overly graphic nor monstrous, or apologist. It's commendable that Bier has taken a subject and showed a more accurate depiction. Those recovering from addiction can be intelligent, educated and liked people. They can be the person next door, or the person who walked past you who in the street and appear to be very average. This criminality of the drug use is most certainly the focus.The building relationship between Sunbourne and his late friend's family is also well restrained. While the temptation might be to create an awkward love interest, the focus is more of the bonds that can be created through shared grief. Despite its themes, the film maintains an optimistic that only occasionally drifts into soppy sentiment.It's far from a perfect affair. The performances from the children will take you out of the drama. They're often clumsy and there's a delivery in many of the lines, which seems far too rehearsed. Do children ever really speak like that? Bier's non-linear story telling is also inconsistent, seemingly dropped half way through the film. The relationship between Sunborne and Brian Burke (adequately performed by David Duchovny) doesn't quite seem believable either, but that's partly because he's too thin a character. The film starts to loose coherence when it comes to the larger story. However, the two central performances and character dynamics are strong enough to win this around.

Things We Lost in the Fire is about a very boring, lovey-dovey couple who have two very boring, well behaved children and have a very boring, structured life. We see it in flashbacks: they share the most banal of conversations, they can't keep their hands off each other and their kids are teeth-grindingly cute. They are in short, The Perfect Mixed Race Family. Who also happen to be insufferably boring. Something MUST happen (before we all lapse into a coma) and it does... the Dad AKA former Agent Mulder dies. Not as suggested in the title, by fiery means, but in defending a lady being beaten up by her boyfriend in the street. Of course... An ideal end for a modern day saint. ZZZZZ.Things liven up a bit with the arrival of the man's former best friend at the funeral... he's a recovering drug addict who strikes up an instant rapport with the children. For some bizarre reason, the wife takes pity on this rather pathetic figure and invites him to stay with them. So, the scene is set for an odd romance between the couple... but that never happens. To the movie's credit, it never pairs them up and the most which is implied is an almost-kiss... which in context, isn't that loving at all. Instead, he slowly overcomes his bad habits, and she begins to come to terms with her new role as a single mother. They help each other, basically... but that's as far as their friendship goes.For the most part, I was unengaged by this film. As mentioned, the parts where we see the central family's former life are twee beyond all belief... almost like something out of The Waltons. And although it improves when the addict arrives and interacts with all and sundry, there's still something missing. Like, a major conflict or a devastating resolution. But nope, with the exception of a late drug relapse by our resident junkie, everything is too mapped out and 'safe'... ultimately making me drum my fingers on the table rather than keeping me glued to the screen.Let it be said: Halle Berry and Benicio Del Toro are two fine actors, and the people they play here are very nice characters who'd you'd be happy to live next door to and borrow some sugar from. I just don't really want hear about their dull existences, that's all.. 5/10

I had high expectations when I saw "Things We Lost in the Fire", Partially because I am a huge fan of Halle Berry and the story structure looked at the most quite intriguing. Sad to say, it failed to give us a rich, deeply emotional story and that's where I deduct several points. Editing, production and a better script could have made this movie ten times more better than what was given to us.The story is set in the present times with well-timed flashbacks in the background to keep the story in tact. Halle Barry plays the role of Audrey Burke, a single woman with two daughters. Her husband Brian (David Duchovny) was tragically killed. From the flashbacks we are informed that Brian's friend from childhood Jerry (excellently portrayed by Benicio Del Toro) were still close even in adulthood only Jerry is now a heroin addict and that Brian has helped him throughout his ordeal by paying him a visit regularly and to provide groceries to him, much to the annoyance of Audrey who felt concerned about Brian visiting Jerry because of the bad side of town in which Jerry lives.In the complexity of Audrey's stems from two possibilities. It could be whether she wants to hang on to her husband's memory or just a simple need for attention, Audrey takes Jerry under her wing to help him overcome his addiction as she invites him under her roof and lets him sleep in her garage which is like a studio apartment in which she repetitively reminds us of "stuff that was lost in the fire" and Brian kept on constantly reminding her "we didn't lose each other and that's the most important" that's how the title came about.Audrey's multi-layered personification is to say the least comes across as at times unusual and at times self-centred as she makes unorthodox demands for Jerry like making him rub her ear lobes so that she can go to sleep at night. The scene itself makes me want to cringe in anger, I mean it was okay that she invited Jerry and be a part of her family, but also refuses Jerry to come anywhere close to her children. I guess this just adds to the complexity of her character. Sure it's nice that she wants to fill in her husband's void to get this dude on the straight and narrow, but for him to resort to force him into rubbing her ears is just overdone and lacks any believable traits to the story.On the whole the performances were quite impressive, but the dialogue feels contrived to the extent that we get the feeling that director Susanne Bier's been watching several episodes of Dr. Phil with the continual saying rubbed in our faces that we must "take things one day at a time". The whole psychology of the film makes the subject matter saccharine and superficial. To me this whole predicament makes me very uncomfortable and insults my intelligence for that matter. The kids are offered stereotypical ridiculous lines like the one daughter who screamed at Jerry accusing him for "taking over her father's place." Sure broken families are everywhere, but I don't think children really talk this way. If I talked that way to my dad I would have been grounded. It's only just people assuming how kids would react in those kind of situations. The reaction I got shocked me and angered me at the same time.If you thought the script was appalling, the direction does not fare any better. Miss Bier assumes that in-your-face close-ups of one's eyes springs emotions and artistic merits or any kind of importance. I was wondering, why the eyeball close-ups? Does she have some kind of strange eye fetish or something? There was nothing significant to it at all. It didn't make the movie any more better. It just wandered off like a lost sheep. The only good thing about the direction is that Miss Bier did was that she let her performers utilize their acting chops even though the material given to them was scarce and not very satisfying. In addition the flashbacks were handled with care and set them at the right time and it was quite informative and compelling.Although I ranted more than I raved I still give this movie a six out of ten. The acting was sublime, the subject of the matter holds one's interest, and Halle Berry turns in a brilliant performance even through her complex nature. Sadly the editing, the script and the directing brought the film down which had a lot of potential going for it. I still recommend those who want to see it, and I hope that if you see it you won't be upset with all the faults that come with it.

What is a person to do when the single most important person in their life is suddenly gone? What is to be done with the cold, empty space in their lives that has suddenly been voided. That's a question that lies just under the surface of Suzanne Biere's Things We Lost in the Fire, a melodrama about a sudden death and those who are left behind to fumble in the darkness for an answer.Most certainly the despair falls on Audrey (Halle Berry) a beautiful housewife who, as the movie opens, is arranging a funeral for her beloved husband Brian (David Duchovney) who was shot to death while trying to stop a man from beating his wife in a parking lot. Audrey and Bryan were married for 11 years and the marriage has produced two children. Now in her grief, her eyes, her jawline and her body language reveal the inner turmoil of a woman who can't quite get a handle of the moment. She works frantically, with the help of her brother, to locate everyone that need to be notified about Brian's death. It isn't until the day of the funeral that she realizes that she forgot someone.He is Jerry Sunborne (Benicio Del Toro), a former lawyer who is now a heroine addict. Jerry and Brian were buddies going back to the second grade. Audrey didn't approve of Jerry and that is probably why she forgot to call him. She invites him anyway, Brian would have wanted it. Jerry, trying a program to get clean, is surprised when she is invited to live in their garage. It would be better and safer than the flophouse where he currently resides.With that idea in place, I settled back and waited for a romance to kick in, but this movie is smarter than that. It is the story of how two people are affected by this tragedy and the baby steps they take to get back on their feet. This, of course, would be nothing without great performances in the leads, starting with Benicio Del Toro as Jerry. He creates the sad portrait of a smart, damaged man who wants to make strides to get his life be in order after the tornado of heroine addiction. He was loyal to Brian because this was a man who never gave up on him.I knew Del Toro was a good actor, but this movie helps me understand why. He has a deeply-lined, tired face that can reveal hidden dimensions of unspoken regret. He looks lived-in, not polished like a Hollywood movie star. He knows when to push a scene over the top and when the keep it close to the chest. Here he manages to keep from going over the top even in scenes when he trashing about in detox. Jerry is not your standard movie drug addict, he is a smart man who tries, time and again, to get himself clean. He fails but it doesn't discourage him. After Brian's death, he has a purpose.Halle Berry surprised me. I've been complaining that ever since her Oscar win for Monster's Ball, she's been throwing away her talents on big-budget junk - movies that focus more on her body than her talent. Here, I think she gives her best performance as a woman lost in agony and grief, trying to find some way of getting a handle on Brian's death. Her performance is all in her eyes, which are deep and sad. There are moments in this movie when she quivers very lightly, until the end when the full grief hits her.Things We Lost in the Fire was directed by Susanne Bier, a Danish director whose specialty is creating family bonds. She directed Brothers and In a Better World, one of this year's Oscar nominees for Best Foreign Language film. I love her characters, they don't walk or talk in a standard way. Although, as brilliantly written as the characters are in Things We Lost in the Fire, I think the ending is a little too clean. Both Jerry and Audrey go where we would expect them to go but it seems to let their grief off the hook a little too soon. Still, this is a movie about the journey, not the destination.