It's a soaper about a doper and a classy widow. Keep that in mind, even if you give way to seduction.
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10/19/07
Things We Lost in the Fire (2007)
64
%
Tomatometer
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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.
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... [More]
Starring: Halle Berry, Benicio Del Toro, David Duchovny, Omar Benson Miller
Director: Susanne Bier
Reviews for Things We Lost in the Fire
Del Toro delivers another powerfully simple and effective performance. Berry is fine but her character just doesn't add up, perhaps inevitable in a movie that seems to have been lost somewhere in translation.
10/19/07
Watching Del Toro bring glimmers of intelligence and kindness to his character's messed-up surface makes the audience want to stick with him through the movie.
10/19/07
Merges the familiar genres of grief/recovery and addiction/recovery, but is honest and well-written enough to avoid genre pitfalls.
10/19/07
The result is a film that's more credible in its building blocks than in its whole. But, like all of Bier's work, it's never less than honest emotionally.
10/19/07
A movie about loss and mourning and bottomless sadness. But its very production is, on another level, a reason to celebrate.
10/19/07
This movie is the most irritating example yet of how both film and TV have taken to shooting even the phoniest, soapiest stories with that drunken, shaky, ultra- close-up camerawork that says, 'Hey, look at us! We're being all documentaryish!'
10/19/07
It is a testament to how well the movie is made that even the most hardened viewer might find himself tearing up at moments -- and you won't have to hate yourself in the morning.
10/19/07
Though it is erratic and can come off as manufactured, this film has the gift of gathering strength as it goes on. It harnesses the talents of stars Halle Berry and Benicio Del Toro in ways that ultimately make us sit up and take notice.
10/19/07
Top CriticFire draws all its heat from the performance of Benicio Del Toro, who shows how one great actor can elevate and even save a movie from itself.
10/19/07
[Director] Bier steers clear of Hollywood formula. Her low-key, natural style comes by its drama honestly, with little manipulation and lots of character development.
10/19/07
Simply put, do not go to this film if you are looking for a romantic comedy or a routine drama. Things We Lost in the Fire offers no such escapism. Instead, even in a fiction, it brings us face to face with the demons of life.
10/19/07
Apart from the mobile camera and a moderately challenging time-jumping script, this is weepy women's cable-television fare of the tears-and-cuddles variety.
10/19/07
Serves as strong reminder of what a powerfully charismatic and completely natural actor Benicio Del Toro is.
10/19/07
Top CriticThough it flirts with melodrama to the tipping point, the movie, like the characters played by Berry and her costar Benicio Del Toro, ultimately makes connections too honest, hopeful and human to induce guilt on the part of any open-hearted moviegoer.
10/19/07
A supple and angular story of grief.
10/19/07
Bring your tissues, ladies. Halle Berry and Benicio Del Toro act their hearts out in a modern weepie that manages to hit all the marks, without being too terribly predictable.
10/19/07
Del Toro...is both authentic and magnetic.
10/19/07
Bier is one of the cinema's most acute observers of intimate relations, her Scandinavian reserve muting the inherent melodrama of her material, and she draws piercing, modestly scaled performances.
10/19/07
Yields more satisfaction than complaints.
10/19/07
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:
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December 10, 2007:
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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...
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