Things We Lost in the Fire
Drama 2007
Starring: Benecio Del Toro, David Duchovny, Halle Berry,Micah Berry
Directed by Susanne Bier
Written by Allen Loeb
Review written by Richard Davis
This is a movie that didn’t get a lot of press and is an excellent independent release. It just came out on DVD and on Demand. You can probably find it at your local blockbuster or favorite rental place, as it is a sleeper hit.
Halle Berry was nominated for “outstanding actress in a motion picture,” and the bright and sharp young star Micah Berry won “Best Performance in a Feature Film - Young Actor Age Ten or Under”.
The movie uses frequent flashbacks to tell how The Burke family deals with the loss of it’s Patriarch Brian Burke (David Duchovny.) Brian is killed while breaking up a fight between an abusive husband and the man’s wife. He happens upon them and intervenes and meets an unfortunate fate. The couple is fighting and Brian comes upon them and tears the husband from the fallen wife. Brian only seeks to comfort the woman as he calls the police. He brushes the hair from the beaten woman’s eyes, and the husband flares with rage. Pulling a pistol, he kills Brian. Only death is given to repay his chivalry.
Duchovny’s acting is his typical straight forward and bland style. It seems he has two speeds while performing in movies: Dull and painfully dull. He is stable and sure, if not reliable. I’m sure you could insert him in the place of most leading men and get your point across, and probably on the cheap when you consider what George Clooney gets per flick.
Benecio Del Toro plays Brian’s friend Jerry that is recovering slowly from heroine addiction. He is an out of touch father with as many nervous ticks and twitches as ounces of pomeade for his hair. Psychedelic music seems to follow him through the movie, and paints a good picture of his personality. Del Toro is a genius at work once again, and seamlessly falls into the role of junkie/devoted friend. A role he pulls off with the ease of smoking one of his trademarks cigarettes. It almost seems like old hat to see Del Toro pull off a role like this. It seems to easy for him.
Jerry was once hated by Audrey Burke (Halle Berry.) Audrey despises Brian’s involvement with the low life Jerry, and often tries to guilt him into staying away from his friend. She is very controlling in the relationship, while Brian prefers the path of least resistance and offers only praise and love.
Halle’s performance is sure and strong; perfectly conveying the gut wrenching emotion that goes with having your life turned upside down. Her character is neurotic before the death of her husband, but becomes downright schizophrenic after he passes. She adeptly conveys the mind of an obsessive compulsive and is scared and skittish, spending hours on end straightening and cleaning things over and over.
The theme of the movie, as well as the title seem to be based on the concept of redemption, and finding a new life and hope in the ashes of a fire; The wonderful Phoenix metaphor.
The Burkes home is being remodeled, and a fire tears through it early in the movie, and it is the central theme of the movie after Brian’s death.
After Brian’s death, Audrey goes to Jerry at his job and home at a methadone clinic. She offers to give him room and board if only he would fix the burned room in her home. It is a chance for redemption and a path to the straight and narrow for Jerry, and a piece of Brian and piece of mind for Audrey. She offers this to him after a mistake of hers earlier in the movie. She misplaces 60 dollars in her vehicle, and it was after Brian had met with Jerry earlier that day. She accuses Jerry of stealing the money over lunch, and Brian quickly defends him, throwing Audrey into one of her many rages. Later in the movie Audrey accidentally finds the sixty dollars in between her seats in her car, and quickly goes to Jerry for reconciliation
Jerry is a hit with the Burke kids once he moves in, and the neighbors as well. Everyone seems to be trying to plug the dysfunctional addict into Brian’s old spot. My favorite scene is when Jerry goes running with Brian’s neighbor and struggles with the pressure being laid on his shoulders by the Burke family and their legacy.
The surrounding characters are bland, but probably needed to be. The children and Halle Berry really provide the seasoning for the neurosis stew that is this movie. Audrey Burke’s controlling nature and compulsions dictate a good deal of the drama here. While Brian is alive, she seems to lash out at him for not being judgmental of her, or anyone for that matter, and verbally attacks him for always being so supportive. Her behavior borders on abusive towards the children after Brian passes.
Micah Berry truly shines in this movie; Becoming much more adept much sooner at the craft than did his mother. Micah brought out little nuances that were great to see in such a young actor. His own portrayal and innocence through even the toughest of ordeals shows how children are able to cope with terrible tragedies.
The music in this film is nearly a side note and doesn’t get in the way at all. Really the soundtrack and score are a nice fit and they portray the moods quite nicely, although, something just didn’t sit right about the music with me. It almost seemed too well thought out, and the movie would’ve been better served by more subtle stylings instead of the brisk movements like Lou Reed’s “sweet Jane” that penetrates the ears during Jerry’s scenes. Jerry’s character is very hard to get a read on, and is quite convoluted, but in truth he’s more lost than ominous and requires a tad more relaxed mood setting.
This movie has no true heroes or villains; only the flawed humans within it. The human conditions we all deal with are the heroes here. It shows us, hopes for us, to find that we too, can find the things we have lost in the fire.
I would recommend you rent this movie.
Richard Davis
Credits and cast excerpted from
www.IMDB.com 
