Things We Lost in the Fire (2007)

Directed by: Susanne Bier | 119 minutes | drama | Actors: Halle Berry, Benicio Del Toro, David Duchovny, Alison Lohman, Sarah Dubrovsky, Nicola Anderson, Micah Berry, R. Nelson Brown, Hakan Coskuner, Marlies Dick, Chuck Duffy, VJ Foster, Peter Hanlon, Patricia Harras, Liam James, James Lafazanos, Alexis Llewellyn, Quinn Lord, John Carroll Lynch, Maggie Ma, Nico McEown, Jessica McLeod, Omar Benson Miller, Paula Newsome, Gerry Rousseau, Ron Selmour, Ken Tremblett, Robin Weigert

Brian (David Duchovny), a successful property developer, father of two and the ideal husband, has been killed by an unfortunate accident. He tried to intervene in a marital quarrel. The man went crazy and shot both his wife and Brian and then committed suicide.

‘Things We Lost in the Fire’ starts on the day of Brian’s funeral. Family, friends and acquaintances are gathered. We follow the preparations for the funeral. Suddenly, Brian’s widow, Audrey Burk (Halle Berry), realizes that she forgot to invite an old friend of Brian’s. He is in deep trouble, on drugs and needs someone to pick up quickly. He arrives in a wrinkled suit and looks disheveled.

In the storyline of the film, Brian is far from out of the picture. The film jumps back and forth several times in the timeline. This gives us insight into the friendship that has existed through thick and thin for many years between Brian and his old friend Jerry Sunborne (Benicio del Toro). Jerry studied law but over the years has completely regressed to the status of a heroin junkie and lives in a hovel. Brian has a wonderful marriage, social standing and living in a big house, but has also remained loyal to his old friend Jerry and visits him regularly. Audrey hates Jerry for that reason, she thinks Jerry should have died and says that directly to his face.

Jerry strikes the right note in the approach of the two children and appears to get on well with them. She invites him to live in the garage for some time, to help with some necessary jobs on the house and also to speed up the grieving process for her and the children. Audrey later discovers that she falsely suspects Jerry of stealing a few dollar bills, recognizes that Jerry isn’t quite an unreliable junkie, and, out of remorse, wants to help him into social rehabilitation. Jerry looks like he’s about to become a second father, but when the kids head towards him, Audrey gets mad and kicks him out of the house. Jerry is then in deep trouble again.

As a director, Susanne Bier has delivered a number of sublime art-house films with a splash of drama, such as ‘Brothers’ and ‘After the Wedding’. ‘Things We Lost in the Fire’ is her first English-language USA-style production and it is somewhat noticeable in the screenplay. The story is somewhat smooth and gets fairly predictable developments as the film progresses. This production is extremely skilfully put together with regard to the technique of lighting, camera work and colours. Benicio del Toro, in particular, delivers a great acting performance as Jerry, extremely believable and realistic. His role in the film is much more in-depth than that of Halle Berry, who – also in terms of character – cannot offer sufficient realistic resistance. Her performance is a bit smooth. This means that there is an imbalance between the roles of Benicio and Halle. The story lacks sufficient dramatic content and does not last in such a way that fans of films with more body will appreciate the film. Ultimately, ‘Things We Lost in the Fire’ has become a reasonably predictable feel good movie that is suitable for a wide audience due to the way in which the characters are portrayed and the developments are developed.