Things We Lost in the Fire

Posted by Nathan Deen (nathan@filmschoolrejects.com) on October 23, 2007

Danish director Susanne Bier makes her American film debut with Things We Lost in the Fire. It is a brilliant slice of life and an overwhelmingly emotional portrayal of devastated characters trying to over come a tragedy.

Halle Berry plays Audrey Burke, mother of two who has just recently become a widow. Her husband, Brian, was shot to death after trying to stop a man from killing his wife in public. Benicio Del Toro (2003’s 21 Grams) plays Jerry, Brian’s best friend since childhood and a recovering heroin addict. Brian was the only person who tried to help Jerry through his addiction and now that Jerry is gone, Audrey feels that she owes it to herself to make sure Jerry does not become an addict again. She offers him a place to stay and he becomes a father figure to Audrey’s kids, which bothers her at first but she realizes that she has given him a reason to live.

While all of the performances are stellar here, this may be Del Toro’s best performance of his career. He is nothing short of magnificent as Jerry. Credit is also due to director Bier, who is tremendously gifted in working with actors, as she showed in her previous feature, the Oscar nominated After the Wedding. She could be directing Johnny Knoxville and Steven Segal and still make a great film. She just has that right touch to get us through even the slowest scenes in the film. Although the movie is simplistic on plot, the characters are complex, especially Jerry, and their reactions to Brian’s death feel very real. Bier never tries to make us weep but rather lets the tears gradually build up.

There are quite a few scenes that successfully capture our flaws, our unwillingness to let go and our willingness to help those in need that are close to us that is the essence of our humanity. For example, there is a scene with Del Toro and Brian’s son Dory where Del Toro gets Dory to stick his head underwater in a pool, something Brian tried to do countless times but never succeeded. Instead of this scene coming off as cheesy and overly joyous, Berry complains that it was Brian that should have experienced that sense of joy, like a parent feels when their child first learns to walk.

There is some really powerful stuff Things We Lost in the Fire. At the end of the year, I may have to seriously consider putting this wonderful film on my Top 10 list.

The Upside: Del Toro’s best performance ever.

The Downside: A slow film with a lot of meat on it, will only reward the patient viewer.

On the Side: Produced by Sam Mendes, director of Road to Perdition and American Beauty.

Grade: A

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