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| Reviewed by: Chris Burton 04 Mar 2008 Things We Lost In the Fire
| |  Benicio Del Toro always gives interesting performances. For a while, he was an interesting character actor who turned in interesting supporting roles in interesting little movies. In The Usual Suspects, he managed (with very little screen time) to create an indelible and classic character in the mumbling Fenster. As the years followed, he continued to make good choices. He was finally recognized with an Academy Award for his amazing work in Steven Soderbergh's Traffic. His latest is Things We Lost in the Fire, and he really is the only decent thing about the movie (except of course for the sexual magnetism of Halle Berry). The film itself is a bit of a bore, and I'm a bit too much of a cynic to feel emotion.
Berry is Audrey Burke, a recent widow. Her husband Brian Burke (David Duchovny) has passed. She is dealing with the grief. At his funeral, she runs into Brian's best friend, Jerry Sunborne (Del Toro). Audrey never liked or approved of Jerry, a drug addict. Also, Jerry is partially responsible since Brian was killed in a senseless murder while looking for Jerry in a drug den. However, Audrey honors the memory of her husband by inviting his best friend to live in her home. He moves into the garage.
The key performance in the film is by Del Toro, who never overplays, who sidesteps any temptation to go over the top (especially in scenes of his suffering), and whose intelligence as a one-time lawyer shows through his street-worn new reality. He is puzzled and surprised that Audrey invites him into her home, but with his options, it's the best offer he'll ever receive.
Things We Lost in the Fire didn't quite do it for me. It tries to force its emotion on you from time to time. It can also be quite too sappy. But maybe you'll like it. Maybe you're not dead inside.
The dvd is presented in 2.35:1 widescreen. There is not much noticeable film grain, and the colors are often very vibrant. The audio is quite impressive, considering that this was a smaller film with a minimalist budget. |
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Copyright (c) 2007 Rock Star Media Works, Inc. All rights reserved.
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