Things We Lost in the Fire
Things We Lost in the Fire ★★½ 2007 (R)
Audrey Burke (Berry) is the widow of murdered husband Brian (Duchovny—who, for a dead character has a lot of screen time). Although she's left financially sound, she is now a grieving single mother to two young children. Audrey invites Brian's best friend, heroin addict Jerry Sunborne (Del Toro), to the funeral and something makes the two of them put aside their obvious and seemingly overwhelming differences to cling together in their grief. What works is the emotional interplay between the two, as Jerry struggles to kick his habit and Audrey struggles to rebuild a new life for herself and her children; both Del Toro and Berry shine. What doesn't is that too many elements—the differing ethnic backgrounds, Jerry's addiction, Audrey's acceptance of Jerry—simply beg questions, and at times the study of grief overpowers and feels manufactured. 118m/C DVD . US Halle Berry, Benicio Del Toro, David Duchovny, Alison Lohman, Omar Benson Miller, John Carroll Lynch, Robin Weigert, Alexis Llewellyn, Micah Berry, Paula Newsome; D: Suzanne (Susanne) Bier; W: Allan Loeb; C: Tom Stern; M: Johan Soderqvist.