Things We Lost in the Fire

Danish director Susanne Bier makes her English-language debut with this low-key and plaintive dirge on loss, addiction, and renewal. Lazily paced and rather boring, Things We Lost in the Fire could probably add credibility to that list of things. Halle Berry plays a mother of two whose seemingly perfect husband (David Duchovny) is murdered in an incident where he came to the aid of someone being attacked. Earlier that evening, he had been visiting his best friend (Benicio Del Toro), who is trying to rid himself of his severe drug addiction. After Duchovny's death, Berry discovers who Del Toro was to her husband and invites him to live with her family for a while. This is a purely platonic relationship involving two grieving strangers, drawn together by a shared tragedy, seemingly incapable of lifting themselves off the floor and getting on with their lives. The film slowly—and we mean slowly—shows how they find their way back, giving them (and thankfully us) a sense of hope that life can go on. One person's death, no matter how senseless or unexplained doesn't have to permanently paralyze those left behind. A subplot involving Del Toro's interest in a recovering alcoholic (Alison Lohman) whom he meets in one of his therapy classes seems a bit contrived and superfluous, most likely thrown into the script to keep us awake. Despite the film's many deficiencies, Del Toro delivers another powerfully simple and effective performance. Berry is fine and looks great, but her character just doesn't add up, perhaps inevitable in a movie that seems to have been lost somewhere in translation.