Things We Lost in the Fire

2007 "Hope comes with letting go."
7.1| 1h53m| R| en
Details

A recent widow invites her husband's troubled best friend to live with her and her two children. As he gradually turns his life around, he helps the family cope and confront their loss.

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Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.
Executscan Expected more
Rio Hayward All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.
Mandeep Tyson The acting in this movie is really good.
NateWatchesCoolMovies Things We Lost In The Fire takes an unblinking look at addiction, recovery, redemption, grief and the ways in which various people cope with all of the above. It shirks the dramatic stereotypes and instead shoots for realism, or at the very least, an unpredictable narrative within a genre that often follows rigid blueprints. It also contains two exceptional performances from Halle Berry and Benicio Del Toro. Berry plays Audrey Burke, mourning the loss of her husband Brian (David Duchovny could write a textbook on understated acting that cuts deep) to a really unfortunate accident. The last minute arrival of his longtime best friend Jerry Sunborne (Benicio Del Toro) adds a new element to the family's grieving process. Jerry is an ex lawyer who is now addicted to heroin. Brian stood by him for many years, never judging or intervening but simply being there to spend time with, and look out for his friend. Duchovny appears in multiple flashbacks with both Berry, Del Toro and his two remarkable children (Micah Berry and Alexis Llewellyn) that instil a lingering presence that not so much casts a shadow over everything, but brightens and flavours it with memories. Audrey is unspeakably lonely and devastated, and despite the fact that she despised Jerry and what he represented for years, invites him to live in their garage, in flat out pure desperate instinct, and probably in an attempt to be closer to Brian after he's gone, by bringing what was close to him closer to her. Jerry is great with the kids, supportive and wants to change, even accepting employment assistance from their kindly neighbour (excellent John Carroll Lynch). The demons do their best to pull him back though, as is their purpose, and a rift forms as we begin to see that Audrey has not fully accepted Brian's death and is in the throes of miserable confusion. Director Susanne Bier uses many intimate close ups of eyes, hair, smiles and frowns to bring us into the mindset of her characters, a tactic which works wonders here and keeps minds and hearts of her audience glued to the proceedings. Berry is dynamite, pure and simple. The finest acting moment I've ever seen from her comes deep from the gut and late in the third act, an agonizing moment in which she has a splintering realization that her husband is gone for good, that final, resolute place that sinks in and grabs hold which we've all heard about from family members or news stories in which loss of loved ones has played a part. I don't know if Berry has experienced this for herself in her own personal life, but she sure damn well embodies it here with every ragged sob, and it cast her in an entirely new light for me. Del Toro is Brando-esque, a shambling, unshaven pit of insecurity and inner turmoil, giving Jerry the mutilated soul he deserves without ever dipping in self pity, given the phoenix treatment and rising from the ashes of his longtime affliction simply by being exposed to Audrey and the kids. One would think that the relationship between Audrey and Jerry might end up going into romantic territory, but Bier and company is more interested in the road less travelled, showing us a story which unravels in a way that's much more akin to believability. Between her directorial skills, Berry and Del Toro's virtuoso work, this is not one to miss.
Narrow 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.
eric262003 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.
ollewest Susanne Bier goes the same secure (and economically successful) path as e.g Lars Hallström and several other good European film makers. From credible pieces of art touching real emotions to standardized Hollywood productions. The authors are OK, some better than OK, but Halle Berry personalize the impersonal, over-sweetened and superficial impression of the movie.This is another example of a basically good story and a good film maker turning out in an uninteresting result. Although Bier is not in the same league as e.g. Lars von Trier, she has made several interesting films listed at IMDb. I recommend Susanne Bier's earlier Danish productions instead of this meal of lobster marinated in coca cola.