Released: October 19, 2007
Director: Susanne Bier
*****
Why does a widow ask her late husband's best friend-whom she doesn't like in the first place-to move in with her and the children? Why does this widow go off on the aforementioned friend when he is able to coerce one of the children to put their head under the water? And why, praytell, does the widow ask the friend to help her go to sleep by tugging on her ear, like the husband used to? All at once, this actions make from confusing, infuriating and just plain icky moments in Things We Lost in the Fire. When Brian (David Duchovny) is gunned down helping a woman being abused in a parking lot, his wife Audrey (Halle Berry) tries to move on with the help of his friend Jerry (Benicio Del Toro), the druggie and loser.
The fact so much talent is squandered on what is essentially a theater production is sad. Watching the entire two hour movie? Even more depressing. Why is it, since her Oscar for Monster's Ball, Berry can't seem to pick a script worthy of her? Here, she's given little to do besides grieve-all in one tone, mind you. Audrey never generates the sympathy we know director Susanne Bier and writer Allen Loeb are trying to wring out of the situation. Maybe part of the reason is we never truly get to know her. We're introduced to the character after Brian has been killed and only know of their relationship is flashbacks. Then, as the story progresses for Audrey and Jerry, there is a voyeuristic feeling to the endeavor, as if we're seeing things none of us really want to. Almost like the car wreck we don't turn away from.
And it's all because of Audrey we feel this way. Not only does she berate Brian for his friendship with Jerry, but she accuses him of stealing money from their car. We never get to the bottom of why they don't get along-the assumption is the drugs; we just watch as Audrey introduces Jerry to her life and then throws him into the deep end of the pool, figuratively speaking. It's actually quite sad she turns to someone outside her "circle" for comfort when there are others she is more comfortable with who get left on the sidelines. We just don't get the chance to understand.
The problem isn't Berry or Del Toro or even Duchovny; the acting is fine across the board, maybe even commendable. Bier paces the story slower than a glacier going across the Arctic Sea and because of that, we loose interest quite quickly. There is no flash or anything the least bit involving about the Fire, which turns out to be tangentially related to the plot. Audrey is a woman in mourning and, as such, makes bad decisions for her family. All we want to do is tell her to get with the program and begin to move on.