Things We Lost in the Fire

Things We Lost in the Fire ***

Directed by Susanne Bier
Written by Allan Loeb

Starring:
Halle Berry as Audrey Burke
Benicio Del Toro as Jerry Sunborne
David Duchovny as Steven Burke
Alexis Llewellyn as Harper Burke
Micah Berry as Dory Burke
John Carroll Lynch as Howard Glassman
Alison Lohman as Kelly

117 Minutes(Rated R for drug content and language. )
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Although I never wrote a review for the movie because it was before I even had this website, I remember after seeing 2005's "North Country' saying how the movie was bad and would no doubt be nominated for a slew of award because it managed to pack in as many Academy Award Nominated Cliches as possible. In other words, it was made to win awards, and it showed. Several people did fall under the AANC spell, but I managed to stay clear. In the end, the film didn't win any Academy Awards, but it did get two acting nominations for Charlize Theron and Frances McDormand-the former a female who wants to get rid of bad conditions in the work place, and the latter someone who ends up getting ill later in the movie and does manage to make a compelling courtroom scene even more corny. To this day I don't understand how the movie managed to get high ratings for certain critics. 2007's "Things We Lost in the Fire" seems to certainly take the cake with having as many Academy Award Nominated Cliches as possible, and yet I gave this movie a whole one star greater than the other. Simply because even though this script was trying to get awards, the performance in this movie are so good and so believable, that "Things We Lost in the Fire," despite being cliche and packed too much at times, managed to be a somewhat worthy experience.

Halle Berry-who has finally broken free of her after Oscar-"Catwoman" and "Perfect Stranger. . ." shudder. She plays Audrey Burke, a wife and mother of three whose husband Steven-played by always good David Duchovny-was just killed trying to stop a man from beating up a woman. At the last minute she contacts Steven's old friend and recovering drug addict Jerry Sunborne (Benicio Del Toro in his best work to date). She finds Jerry living in a clinic helping out in exchange for room and board, and she invites him to stay in her somewhat furnished garage. He accepts, but doesn't seem to understand why. He begins bonding with her two children, who seem to think that he is replacing their father somehow, and both Jerry and Audrey begin to heal-and they both realize that they need one another to do just that.

So where to begin-the recovering wife, drug addiction, two kids finding a new father figure, a segment where Jerry succumbs back to drugs. This movie certainly does it's best to cram in as much emotion as possible using all kinds of award winning methods, but if you sometimes disregard the script and look at this as a performance piece, it really is well done. Halle Berry isn't my favorite actress in the world, but here she is giving it her all despite a rather contrived character-and she's extremely believable. This movie is told mostly in flashbacks, beginning after the death and the first forty five minutes are dedicated to showing her marriage to Steven-the good and the bad. In the end, though, it was Benicio Del Toro who managed to blow me away. I haven't seen much with Del Toro over the years-"Traffic," "21 Grams," and "The Hunted." And I always recognized what a good actor he was, but was never able to see him in such a prominent and effective role. Even though they pack in a relapse section of the movie to give him some more screen time, his performance by quite effective despite the contrived moments on the page.

I suppose I am recommending this movie for the acting, and Susanne Bier, who directed "After the Wedding" and "Brothers." This is her first film in America, and while I wish she had a better script to work with-one that doesn't resort to several easy routes-it's a well done movie that manages to be quite heartfelt at times. I was grateful that this didn't turn into a love story between the Berry and Del Toro character, at least not in a physical sense-more on an emotional level. They love each other because at this moment they need someone to love-Berry does have her kids, but its love on a different level than that. Del Toro has my pick for a Best Actor nomination for sure, and Berry maybe Best Actress unless someone better comes along. "Things We Lost in the Fire" is an effective, but obvious drama.