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.

I have to admit that I was looking for another film when I cam across this one. Being a huge fan of Benicio del Toro I decided to sit down and watch it. Things We Lost In The Fire is a very fine film and the performances of del Toro and Halle Berry were just spot on. The direction of Susanne Bier was perfect and seemed to bring out the best in the actors.The film tells the story of a woman (Berry) who loses her husband ((David Duchovny) when he tries to stop a man from beating his wife. Grief stricken she is really not coping and she asks a friend of her husband Brian, a heroin addict called Jerry Sunborne to stay with her and her two children.This is a story of grief and loss but it is also a story of strength, love and hope. In any other hands, this would be a dreary film indeed but it's not.There are many beautiful and powerful scenes in this film but the best is Benicio del Toro's Jerry going through withdrawal. The scene is heart breaking and quite realistic. Also the scene where Audrey (Berry) finds him in a filthy squat smacked out of his mind.This is definitely one of Benicio del Toro's best films and one worth watching. Sad, yes but also imbued with hope as well. These characters are flawed in their own way. Jerry's addiction, Audrey's anger and difficulty coping with the loss of her gentle and loving husband. I have to say, I am not a huge fan of Halle Berry, but this was her film, she shone out in it. The two actors who played her children, Alexis Llewellyn as Harper Burke and Micah Berry as Dory Burke were outstanding. They both managed to avoid the cutesyness that some child actors have. David Duchovny was wonderful as usual and a special mention to Omar Benson Miller as Neal, Audrey's brother. He was great.I hope that Benicio del Toro makes more films like this in the future.

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.

If you're going with that feeling "this is going to be an awesome motion picture", I highly recommend you slow down your expectations. On the other hand don't think it's going to be junk, it won't. Don't expect to be extraordinary ... and don't expect it to be trash. If you have something more interesting to do with your time forget about this movie and watch it when you're bored and got nothing to do. That way this movie will be worthy.The story line is somehow boring and non-existent, when it ends feels like you're in the middle expecting more development. Nothing really special with the characters or the story happens from 25 mins-end. On the other hand, the acting and the message is good. This is mainly a "human" movie. Walks around "human" things. The issue of loosing somebody important in our lives, the issue of people hitting the bottom of their lives, the issue of we giving another shot to others, among other things.This isn't great because it just doesn't keep you wishing for the next scene like "and now?? What happens??" like great movies do, so if you are the type of person who usually loves development and a good story, forget about this. On the other hand, if you are interested in human relations, this will be good. Under that aspect, it's very realistic and the acting won't disappoint.So best way to qualify this? Average, somehow enjoyable, but definitely average movie, good to kill some time in a boring Sunday afternoon.