Things We Lost in the Fire

Bier tells a sensitive story of grieving and dealing with loss. The theme is quite heavy. While many have criticized the film for its slow pace and yes, Bier does take her time to tell the story, I did not see that as a disadvantage because this allows the viewer to really see the depth of the characters and how these people were deeply affected by tragedy.

A lot of it depends on the actors' performances. Their emotions look raw. Halle Berry is wonderfully restrained. This is the first superb performance of hers I have seen since 'Monster's Ball'. Not that she's been less than satisfactory in anything else but here she is given a well written part in a long time. Benicio Del Toro is fantastic too. Both capture the essence of their characters and interestingly portray Audrey's and Jerry's different ways of dealing with grief. Moreover, Jerry has to face the additional challenge of fighting his addiction. John Caroll Lynch, David Duchovny and Alison Lohman provide great support. The child actors are brilliant too.

On the technical side, it is a well-made film. The cinematography is good. The background score is gentle and 'quiet'. The sets are quite appealing. I liked the Audrey's house.

'Things We Lost In The Fire' is a strong depiction of grief. The theme might be a little too heavy for some and not everyone seems to 'get' it but it is a well-intentioned great movie that tells a moving story.

If you've seen her 2006 melodrama, "After the Wedding", you can clearly tell this is a Susanne Bier film as her signature style can be seen in the hand-held camera-work, the unexpected jump cuts and the heavy use of close-ups on the physical features of her principal actors during the most cathartic moments. The Danish-born director is an apt choice to guide this somber 2007 drama dealing with grief and addiction in the aftermath of an unexpected death. Showing the unfiltered responses to life-altering experiences appears to be Biers' specialty since that is exactly the focus of both films. This time, the set-up sounds more appropriate as the subject of a Lifetime TV-movie, but despite some severe contrivances, first-time screenwriter Allan Loeb is able to elevate the film by imbuing the situation with surprising candor and making the principal characters credibly flawed. Bier's distorted timeline is a bit of a nuisance at the outset, although this luckily becomes less of an issue as the movie progresses.

The plot hinges on the Good Samaritan death of Steven Burke, a successful Seattle-based real estate developer whose sense of decency and devotion inadvertently triggers a series of events leading to the tragedy. Left behind are two broken people - his angry, emotionally fragile wife Audrey, who has two small children to raise by herself now, and his close friend Jerry Sunborne, a one-time lawyer who has become a full-blown junkie constantly strung out on heroin in a depressing SRO unit downtown. Even though Audrey is distrustful of Jerry, Steven has remained loyal - a point of contention that after Steven's death, motivates Audrey to invite Jerry to stay in her half-finished garage after the funeral. Their relationship becomes confused but at least, it does not make a predictable turn toward a romance. Instead, we witness Audrey's almost instantaneous dependency on Jerry and her subsequent resentment of him when he becomes a father figure for her children. From that point, it becomes gradually clearer that both need to move forward with their lives in light of their personal limitations.

As Jerry, Benicio Del Toro inhabits his role to maximum effect, bringing a haunted quality that he leavens with his natural charisma. He is particularly harrowing during his character's detoxification, and you can't help but root for his recovery no matter how uncertain it may be. Finally challenged by a role comparable to her breakthrough in Marc Forster's "Monster's Ball", Halle Berry does an admirable job in portraying Audrey's prickliness while maintaining a sympathetic core. At the same time, she is saddled with more of the plot contrivances than Del Toro and has a breakdown scene that feels a bit too calculated. David Duchovny's natural likability helps make Steven more than just an elliptical plot device, though his screen time is understandably limited to brief flashbacks. Alexis Llewellyn and Micah Berry (no relation to Halle) believably play Audrey's children, while John Carroll Lynch (the prime suspect in "Zodiac") provides welcome comedy relief as the Burkes' jogging neighbor, a real estate broker who wants to help Jerry turn his life around. Even though his character is supportive to the point of being idealized, Omar Benson Miller effectively plays Audrey's too-good-to-be-true younger brother, and Alison Lohman ("White Oleander") shows up late in the film as a persistently inquisitive recovering addict.

The 2008 DVD is relatively sparse on extras. There is no commentary track from Bier or the principal actors, but there is a twenty-minute making-of featurette, "A Discussion About 'Things We Lost in the Fire'", which features comments from Bier, Loeb, producers Sam Mendes ("American Beauty") and Sam Mercer, Berry, Del Toro, Duchovny, Lohman and Miller. Most of the focus is on Bier and Mendes who discuss getting the film off the ground, how she works with the actors and how the look of the film was achieved. Running about nine minutes, seven deleted scenes are included, mainly filler dialogue scenes that were understandably excised except for one with Jerry and a fellow addict out on the streets. The last extra is the original theatrical trailer. By the way, the film's title refers to Audrey's emotional catharsis when she reads an inventory list of things that were destroyed in the garage during an electrical fire prior to Steven's death.

The Good: The writing and acting are top notch. The Bad: The hand held camera pans and scans and really, REALLY, close, close-ups are a little dis-concerting.

But Benicio DelToro is right on with his performance! Best acting I've seen in a while.

Saw the movie at a preview in Cleveland. The Theatre was packed, and the reaction from most people was that it was too heavy, too depressing. But it is exactly that quality that makes it ring true. The interplay between the neighbor that hates his wife and Benicio's character are perfect. A smaller role is played by Alison Lohman ( Matchstick Men ) was also very well acted.

A steadier camera without the wild pans and I would give it a 9 or 10.

Greetings again from the darkness. Very good melodrama from Scandanavian director Susanne Bier. The film is intentionally slow moving ... just like real life tragedy. Although we could have been beaten over the head with the cute as heck kids, the story is actually more focused on the heroin addicted best friend played by Benecio del Toro. This makes the point that strength can come from many sources.

Halle Berry gives her best performance since "Monster's Ball" (yes even better than "Catwoman"). We feel her happiness, pain, desperation and hope. The cute kids are played by an amazing 11 yr old Alexis Llewellyn and Micah Berry (not her real life son). Also strong is Alison Lohman, who just doesn't work enough these days. However the strongest performance is by Benecio. I am not sure if the role was written for him or if he just perfectly captures best friend Jerry. It is most complicated role and requires enormous depth.

I definitely recommend the film thanks to its basis in reality and fine performances and terrific direction. However, I will qualify it by saying that I don't believe it is quite in the class of "21 Grams"

Saw this last evening at a preview screening here in Arizona and it was a LOT heavier than the trailer leads you to believe, which, I for one, was grateful for! Granted, this is only MY opinion, but I think that Halle does some of her best work in a long time here and for me, ranks up there with Monster's Ball and Losing Isaiah. Of course, Benecio is a great pleasure to watch as always, playing the demonized friend of David Duchovny, but I think Halle rises just a notch up everything here and truly shines! The supporting cast is also really enjoyable to watch, especially John Carroll Lynch playing a next door neighbor who finds an unlikely friend in Benecio's character. Great camera work and great direction all the way around and although the film is a bit long, I am glad the director had the wisdom not to rush through the story. Great film and I cannot wait to purchase it on DVD!