DVD Release Date: March 4, 2008
Theatrical Release Date: October 19, 2007
Rating: R (for drug content and language)
Genre: Drama
Run Time: 112 min.
Director: Susanne Bier
Actors: David Duchovny, Halle Berry, Benicio del Toro, John Carroll Lynch, Alison Lohman
“Accept the good.”
That’s the moral of Things We Lost in the Fire, and although the characters’ ideas of good aren’t consciously grounded in the ultimate Good, director Susanne Bier’s drama is tough to shake. Its frank acknowledgement of human frailty, and its stark portrayal of grief and recovery, make for a memorable look into the deep grief borne of tragedy.
Commercially, the film presents a challenge—will audiences be eager to sit through a story of personal devastation?—but powerhouse performances from Benicio del Toro as a recovering drug addict and Halle Berry as a grieving widow give the subject matter a compelling immediacy.
The first few moments of Fire are an uneasy mix of portent and sentiment. Husband and father Brian Burke (David Duchovny) takes an evening walk with his child, as tinkling piano music on the soundtrack dictates the preciousness of the situation. It’s cloying, but short-lived. Not only does the film begin jumping in time, but the unsteady camerawork keeps us unsettled as the story unfolds.
The story takes an ominous turn, flashing forward to Brian’s wake (we’re not sure how he died), where childhood friend Jerry Sunborne (Benicio del Toro) greets Brian’s widow, Audrey (Halle Berry). There’s a long history between them, but it’s not romantic. Brian had kept an eye on Jerry, a drug addict, over the years, but being a friend to the friendless has taken a toll on Jerry’s relationship with Audrey, who fears what might happen to Brian every time he meets up with his old pal. Still, Brian reaches out to the drug-addled Jerry. “He’s my friend,” he explains to Audrey. “He gives; he doesn’t always take.”
It’s during an outing with one of his children—not during one of his visits to Jerry—that Brian’s Good-Samaritan instincts get him into trouble. Intervening in a domestic dispute, he’s killed, leaving behind his wife and two kids—and the troubled Jerry.
Audrey doesn’t fully trust Jerry, but in need of assistance around the house—and companionship—she offers him a place to stay. “I’m the one who needs help here,” she tells him. With her support, and the expressed confidence in him by family friend Howard (John Carroll Lynch), Jerry begins to build a new life. “I’m not good at facing my fears,” Howard tells Jerry. “I’m not strong, like you.”
