RottenTomatoes.com
Log In | Register | What is RT?
Found a Bug? Squash It! Report Bugs Here
  • Home
  • Movies
  • DVD
  • Celebrities
  • News
  • Critics
  • Trailers & Pictures
  • CommunityBeta
  • Box Office
  • | Best Of
  • | Certified Fresh
  • | Showtimes
RT Search Powered by Google
help icon Enhanced RT
searches on Google
Click here to turn on enhanced search results from RT on your Google searches.
 
Movies / On DVD / Things We Lost in the Fire
Things We Lost in the Fire

Rate this Movie Help Icon

  • Write a Review
  • Read Reviews
  • Add to List
  • Buy Poster External Icon
  • Visit Official Site External Icon
Bookmark and Share

Things We Lost in the Fire (2007)

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
64 %
Tomatometer
Template ImageTemplate Image

How does the Tomatometer work Help Icon

Reviews Counted:120

Fresh:77

Rotten:43

Average Rating:6.5/10

Consensus: Things We Lost in the Fire is a well-acted, beautifully filmed reflection on love, loss, addiction and recovery from life's obstacles.

Rated: 15 [See Full Rating] Rated R for drug content and language.

Runtime: 1 hr 59 mins

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:01-02-2008

Synopsis: Danish director Susanne Bier gained international acclaim when she was nominated for an Oscar for 2006's AFTER THE WEDDING, but before that she had strong ties to the hyper-realistic, documentary... Danish director Susanne Bier gained international acclaim when she was nominated for an Oscar for 2006's AFTER THE WEDDING, but before that she had strong ties to the hyper-realistic, documentary style of the Dogme 95 group. In her U.S. debut, THINGS WE LOST IN THE FIRE, Bier effectively brings together her tendency towards soapy subject matter and her signature vérité style, creating characters with a depth and a human fallibility that are rare in Hollywood. Halle Berry (X-MEN, THEIR EYES WERE WATCHING GOD) stars as Audrey Burke, the stay-at-home wife of well-to-do real estate broker Brian (David Duchovny, TRUST THE MAN). They enjoy what is to all appearances a perfect marriage and family life, with two adorable children (Alexis Llewelyn and Micah Berry) and a fabulous house. Audrey's life is shattered when Brian is killed attempting to intervene in a domestic dispute. In her grief, Audrey reaches out to an unlikely ally: her husband's childhood friend, Jerry (Benicio del Toro, TRAFFIC, 21 GRAMS), a 40-something heroin addict whose relationship with Brian Audrey has always resented. After Brian's death, Jerry goes straight, and Audrey invites him to move into her home, where he bonds with Audrey's kids and begins to heal. The uneasy, tense, and tender relationship that develops between Audrey and Jerry is the heart of the film, with del Toro's charismatic performance suggesting realms of human experience previously uncharted on film: his portrayal of withdrawal symptoms rivals Ewan McGregor's memorable TRAINSPOTTING scene. Berry takes more subtle risks with her role, testing the viewer's sympathy with a somewhat prickly character. Allison Lohman (FLICKA) is a strong supporting character as a Narcotics Anonymous attendee with a crush on Jerry. [More]

Starring: Halle Berry, Benicio Del Toro, David Duchovny, Omar Benson Miller

Starring: Halle Berry, Benicio Del Toro, David Duchovny, Omar Benson Miller, Alison Lohman, John Carroll Lynch

Director: Susanne Bier

Director: Susanne Bier
Screenwriter: Allan Loeb
Producer: Sam Mendes, Sam Mercer
Composer: Johan Soderqvist
Studio: Paramount Pictures

[See More Credits]

  • Trailers
  • Pictures
  • Trailer
    >
1 of 1

See More Movie Trailers & Pictures

Reviews for Things We Lost in the Fire

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by comments; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Screen International | comment Comment
10/20/07
Screen International
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
02/01/08
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
02/05/08
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Susanne Bier's first English-language film is a superbly written, powerfully emotional drama with terrific, Oscar-worthy performances from Halle Berry and Benicio Del Toro.

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
10/25/07
Matthew Turner
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
10/18/08
Peter Bradshaw
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Danish director Bier focuses on themes and relationships in what's otherwise a rather contrived melodrama.

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
10/27/07
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

In a case of cathartic mutual therapy, Berry once again knocks me out with the depth of her talent and the perfection of her beauty.

Full Review Source: Cinema Signals | comment 3 Comments
10/04/07
Jules Brenner
Jules Brenner
Cinema Signals

The film felt very anti-climatic to me for some reason.

Full Review Source: WJFK-FM (CBS Radio) | comment 1 Comment
05/26/08
Kevin McCarthy
Kevin McCarthy
WJFK-FM (CBS Radio)

A movie about loss and mourning and bottomless sadness. But its very production is, on another level, a reason to celebrate.

Full Review Source: Newark Star-Ledger | comment 1 Comment
10/19/07
Stephen Whitty
Stephen Whitty
Newark Star-Ledger
N/R

Serves as strong reminder of what a powerfully charismatic and completely natural actor Benicio Del Toro is.

Full Review Source: Detroit News | comment Comment
10/19/07
Detroit News
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch | comment Comment
10/20/07
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
04/03/08
Boxoffice Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
10/18/08
Deseret News, Salt Lake City
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Where the film's ambitions crumble is in its avowed refusal to make its audience too uncomfortable.

Full Review Source: MSNBC | comment Comment
05/01/08
Alonso Duralde
Alonso Duralde
MSNBC

Scheduled blowups and symbolic dreams and interminable tears until we all feel like we've learned a little something about loss: We want our two hours back.

Full Review Source: I.E. Weekly | comment Comment
02/22/08
Amy Nicholson
Amy Nicholson
I.E. Weekly

The best part of the film is del Toro's performance, a junkie jumble of many layers, glued together with a deep seated humanity that reaches out to us.

Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
08/14/08
Andrew L. Urban
Andrew L. Urban
Urban Cinefile

Things We Lost in the Fire is certainly not a comedy, but it is definitely mordant with its two Big Themes: Loss and Addiction, both treated in a singularly heavy-handed manner, for which I blame primarily Mr. Loeb’s screenplay.

Full Review Source: New York Observer | comment Comment
10/31/07
Andrew Sarris
Andrew Sarris
New York Observer

Highlighted by a performance by Benicio Del Toro at his most magnetically bedraggled, this is a welcome rarity: a full-on heartstring yanker that doesn't leave the viewer feeling ill-used afterward.

Full Review Source: The Stranger (Seattle, WA) | comment Comment
10/17/07
Andrew Wright
Andrew Wright
The Stranger (Seattle, WA)

[Del Toro is] both beast and beauty in a movie that mismanages the idea that life is not a fairy tale.

Full Review Source: New York Press | comment Comment
10/24/07
Armond White
Armond White
New York Press

Things We Lost in the Fire is the best of the recent crop of films about coping with loss. It also boasts a quietly riveting performance by Benicio Del Toro.

Full Review Source: KPBS.org | comment Comment
10/20/07
Beth Accomando
Beth Accomando
KPBS.org
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by comments; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 >> >|
all

Latest News for Things We Lost in the Fire

March 03, 2008: RT on DVD: Into the Wild, Things We Lost In The Fire, My Kid Could Paint That Arrive
Into the Wild, Sean Penn's lyrical adventure about a young idealist on a cross-country trek, leads new releases this week. More...

January 18, 2008: Down but Not Out, HD DVD Soldiers On
The clock hasn't stopped ticking on the format, but HD DVD consumers can look forward to seeing new films on store shelves -- for at least the next few months, anyway. More...

December 10, 2007: Best Unproduced Scripts in Hollywood Unveiled
It's a young tradition, but Hollywood's Black List -- the year-end list of production executives' favorite scripts in development -- has already become an eagerly awaited... More...

October 28, 2007: 51st London Film Festival - RT's Highlights
It's that time of year when the film world's biggest and brightest descend on London and show some Oscar hopefuls nice and early. RT has been spending time eyeing up the films... More...

See All

More DVDs

Top Rentals
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
36% 36% Angels & Demons
25% 25% Four Christmases
68% 68% Funny People
95% 95% Star Trek
14% 14% The Ugly Truth

More Rentals…

New On DVD This Week
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
32% 32% Terminator Salvation
44% 44% Night at the Museum: B…
86% 86% A Christmas Tale
60% 60% Paper Heart

More New Releases…

What’s Hot On RT

Twilight Saga: Eclipse

Twilight Saga: Eclipse

5 facts straight from the cast.

Disney Animation

Disney Animation

We chart the studio's classics.

Avatar

Avatar

An exclusive look at the human hardware.

Eric Bana

Eric Bana

The Star Trek star talks cars with RT.

Other News

  • Top Stories
  • Popular
  • Interviews
 
 

Comments

 
 
Top Stories
Headlines Comments
  
  • Tarantino Could Have Directed Green Lantern Source: MTV
8
  • Will Duvall be Gilliam's Don Quixote? Source: Collider.com
14
  • No Hobbit Until 2012? Source: The Wrap
20
  • Don't Hold Your Breath for Hancock 2 Source: HitFix
38
  • Peter Berg Talks Battleship Source: CHUD
2
  • Summit Ponders Twilight Finale Source: Variety
156
  • First Look at Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Source: USA Today
56
  • Jeremy Renner Talks Hawkeye Possibilities Source: Superhero Hype
14
  • Todd Phillips Talks The Hangover 2 Source: Entertainment Weekly
18
  • Tron Legacy Duo Heading into The Black Hole Source: Hollywood Reporter
9
Popular
Headlines Comments
  
  • Ban Them All! 10 Infamously Controversial Movies
100
  • Friday Harvest: The Road, Avatar, and more!
96
  • 5 Facts About The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
92
  • Total Recall: Natalie Portman's Best Movies
52
  • Box Office Guru Wrapup: Vampires and Football Break Thanksgiving Records
38
  • Five Favorite Films with Jesse Ventura
32
  • Weekly Ketchup: Zombieland 2 in 3D?
28
  • RT on DVD & Blu-Ray: Terminator Salvation and a Smithsonian Battle
20
  • Duncan Jones Reteams With Kevin Spacey
5
  • 2010 Sundance Film Festival Lineup Announced
5
Interviews
Headlines Comments
  
  • "I Don't Hate Women": Lars von Trier on Antichrist
17
  • Eric Bana talks Love the Beast - RT Interview
11
  • Fight Club Sound Designer Reflects on Film's 10th Anniversary
21
  • James Schamus talks Taking Woodstock - RT Interview
8
  • John Hurt Talks Harry Potter, Quentin Crisp and Alien - The RT Interview
15
  • Terry Gilliam Talks Doctor Parnassus
22
  • Wes Anderson Talks Fantastic Mr. Fox - RT Interview
9
  • Wolverine Creator Len Wein Talks About the Film
28
  • Gavin Hood Talks Wolverine; Possible Sequel
28
  • Duncan Jones talks Moon, Sam Rockwell, and Mute
14
 
 

Sponsored Links

Around The Network

  • Things We Lost in the Fire at Rotten Tomatoes
  • Things We Lost in the Fire at IGN

Fresh Links

Featured
RT on YouTube
RT on YouTube External Link

Subscribe to RT's YouTube channel and don't miss a second of our cracking video content.

RT on Twitter
RT on Twitter External Link

Follow Rotten Tomatoes and join us as we tweet about the week's releases.

 
 
About| Site Map| Help| RT To Go| Contact Us| Critics Submission| Linking to RT| Licensing| Movie List| Celebs List| Newsletter
IGN Logo

IGN.com | GameSpy | Comrade | Arena | FilePlanet | GameSpy Technology
TeamXbox | Planets | Vaults | VE3D | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | GamerMetrics
AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | Direct2Drive | Green Pixels


By continuing past this page, and by the continued use of this site, you agree to be bound by and abide by the User Agreement.
Copyright 1998-2009, IGN Entertainment, Inc. About IGN | Support | Advertise | Privacy Policy | User Agreement | Subscribe to RT's XML feed! IGN RSS Feeds
IGN's enterprise databases running Oracle, SQL and MySQL are professionally monitored and managed by Pythian Remote DBA
Certain product data ©1995-present Muze, Inc. For personal use only. All rights reserved.