Things We Lost in the Fire (2007)

Director:

Susanne Bier

Writer (WGA):

Allan Loeb (written by)

Release Date:

19 October 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Hope comes with letting go.

Plot:

A recent widow invites her husband's troubled best friend to live with her and her two children. As he gradually turns his life around, he helps the family cope and confront their loss.

Plot Keywords:

Narcotics Anonymous | Addiction | Best Friend | Garage | Grief

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Halle Berry	...	Audrey Burke
Benicio Del Toro	...	Jerry Sunborne
David Duchovny	...	Brian Burke
Alexis Llewellyn	...	Harper Burke
Micah Berry	...	Dory Burke
John Carroll Lynch	...	Howard Glassman
Alison Lohman	...	Kelly
Robin Weigert	...	Brenda
Omar Benson Miller	...	Neal
Paula Newsome	...	Diane
Sarah Dubrovsky	...	Spring
Maureen Thomas	...	Grandma Ginnie Burke
Patricia Harras	...	Howard's Wife
V.J. Foster	...	Distressed Man (as VJ Foster)
Caroline Field	...	Teresa Haddock (as Carolyn Field)

MPAA:

Rated R for drug content and language.

Runtime:

118 min

Country:

USA | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS | SDDS

Certification:

Ireland:15A | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (Alberta/Manitoba/Ontario) (Canadian Home Video rating) | UK:15 | Canada:PG (British Columbia) | USA:R (No. 43485) | Netherlands:12 | Taiwan:R-18 | Singapore:NC-16 | Germany:12 | South Korea:15 | France:Unrated | Norway:11 | Sweden:7 | Japan:PG-12 | Argentina:13 | New Zealand:M | Australia:MA

Filming Locations:

Kitsilano, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Company:

DreamWorks Pictures

Trivia:

Release prints were shipped to some theaters under the fake title "Water".

Quotes:

Jerry Sunborne: Roses are red, Violets are blue, I'm schizophrenic, and so am I.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Siskel & Ebert & the Movies: (2007-10-20)" (2007)

Soundtrack:

The Little House I Used To Live In

Accept the Good

Greetings again from the darkness. Very good melodrama from Scandanavian director Susanne Bier. The film is intentionally slow moving ... just like real life tragedy. Although we could have been beaten over the head with the cute as heck kids, the story is actually more focused on the heroin addicted best friend played by Benecio del Toro. This makes the point that strength can come from many sources.

Halle Berry gives her best performance since "Monster's Ball" (yes even better than "Catwoman"). We feel her happiness, pain, desperation and hope. The cute kids are played by an amazing 11 yr old Alexis Llewellyn and Micah Berry (not her real life son). Also strong is Alison Lohman, who just doesn't work enough these days. However the strongest performance is by Benecio. I am not sure if the role was written for him or if he just perfectly captures best friend Jerry. It is most complicated role and requires enormous depth.

I definitely recommend the film thanks to its basis in reality and fine performances and terrific direction. However, I will qualify it by saying that I don't believe it is quite in the class of "21 Grams"