Video Review of Things

Things We Lost in the Fire
By Cheryl Cheng -- Video Business, 2/4/2008
PARAMOUNT

Street: March 4
Prebook: now
> A-list cast should draw attention to this underperforming drama.

In the latest from Danish director Susanne Bier (Best Foreign Language Film Oscar-nominated After the Wedding), Halle Berry stars as a housewife who has just lost her husband (David Duchovny) to a senseless murder. Left alone to raise her two children, she unexpectedly finds comfort in her husband’s best friend (Benicio Del Toro), a recovering heroin addict. Though Lost in the Fire sounds like a movie suitable for Lifetime, Bier manages to avoid melodramatic excess most of the time. Berry and Del Toro also are commendable in their roles, conveying the emotional turmoil of their characters in a realistic fashion. However, by the end of the film, we felt exhausted and emotionally drained by the sheer weight of the subject matter and the many scenes in which Berry weeps in sadness, frustration or both.

Shelf Talk: Though this film barely made a dent at the box office, Lost in the Fire does offer A-listers Berry, Del Toro and Duchovny, all of whom should drum up some interest. Also, Bier is an award-winning international filmmaker, who won a Best Film 'Bodil’ in her native Denmark for Open Hearts and a Sundance Audience Award for Brothers, so this film will be a must-see for those who follow her work. But Lost in the Fire deals a double dose of drama—coping with death and drug addiction—so it will mainly appeal to those who enjoy watching films on those kinds of serious

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