THINGS WE LOST IN THE FIRE

Things We Lost in the Fire is an adult movie with adult emotions and real pain.

Halle Berry is already a tiny woman, and in the face of tragedy, as her character Audrey Burke is in Things We Lost in the Fire, she actually curls in upon herself like a frightened and defensive small animal. It seems Berry is sort of hit-and-miss when it comes to acting, but lucky for her, she is in hit-mode in this film, where she is actually given a complex and three-dimensional role to chew on. Yet, unfortunately for Halle, she is co-starring with Benicio del Toro, who absolutely knocks this one out of the ballpark.

Audrey and Jerry (del Toro) are two folks who really don't have anything in common. She is the wife of a successful architect, and he is a down-on-his luck addict who has lost everything, including his career as a successful lawyer. The one thing that they do have in common is the person that brings them together when he is violently taken from their lives. Brian (David Duchovny), Audrey's husband and Jerry's best friend from childhood, is killed while trying to playing Good Samaritan, attempting to stop domestic violence spilling out into the street. Audrey has always hated Jerry's unseen presence; she has hated this man whom Brian would drop everything to help. She always felt that Brian was in danger whenever he visited Jerry's decrepit slummy apartment, but it turns out Brian was killed blocks from his own well-to-do-home. When Audrey and Jerry lose Brian in their lives, they tentatively build a friendship out of their devastating shared loss.

As good as Halle Berry is (and she is fine), Benicio del Toro steals the show. When we first meet him, his eyes are wild and unfocused, but he doesn't overdo it. He tries to pretend he isn't high, and you can see the physical struggle as he attempts to act normal. His character tries to clean up, then falls (again) to rock bottom. He tries to be there to support Audrey, after she allows him to rent out the family garage, but is wary of crossing the boundaries laid by his dead friend. His character is deeply conflicted and screwed up, but is inherently good. He could have totally showboated this role, but chooses to hold things close to his chest. He is simply fantastic.

Things We Lost in the Fire is an adult movie with adult emotions and real pain. There is really no big climax or conclusion (unless you want to point to Audrey finally breaking down), and the film casually meanders. It is ultimately a sad drama (with a glimmer of hope) that is a showcase of acting and directing. You will probably walk away feeling more than a little bleak, yet strangely refreshed that such a sensitive movie can be made about such personal loss.

DVD NOTES

The DVD extras include seven deleted scenes, a theatrical trailer, and featurette "A Discussion About Things We Lost in the Fire" with the cast and crew. Director Susanne Bier gets to expound on her vision for the film, and the way she strives for truthfulness in the seemingly relentless sadness of her films—yet she always tries to invoke an ultimate sense of hope.