Halle Berry stars in this emotionally draining drama about a widower and her husband's drug addicted friend, Benicio Del Toro. After Audrey's husband Brian (David Duchovny) is killed in the middle of a random act of domestic violence her whole world is torn apart. She turns to Jerry, a down and out addict whose only friend was do-gooder Brian. In a charitable act Audrey moves him into her garage in an attempt to seek redemption in her soul and cope with the loss. Jerry faces a daily conflict to stay off drugs and began to take on a surrogate act of parent to Brian and Audrey's two young children. Actually seeing the children adjust to life without their father was one of the most heartbreaking parts of this film. Little moments on the basketball court, in the movie theater, or the pool give this film pure raw emotions that make it more realistic. The best part about this movie was Berry and Del Toro. Both characters were strong and yet somehow dependent on this new relationship that was formed out of grief. Don't be fooled by the previews, this movie is a heavy, heavy drama. There is no humor, no sex, very little violence, just sad, depressing drama. The story is good, the acting is good, it just never seems to go anywhere. I know it's about recovery and self-discovery but it's just so sad. Berry has the same kind of depth as in prior roles like "Losing Isiah" or even "Monster's Ball." I think Del Toro is a fine actor, he just seems somewhat one-dimensional. His characters are always struggling with inner-demons and his emotions seem unchanging. Essentially this film is about coming back to life after recovering from a loss, whether it be something emotional of something physical, it's about moving forward and moving on.

Image and Sound:

Nothing outstanding in the way of the effects of this film. The editing is kind of choppy and I was somewhat distracted by the way the camera followed the people and not the scenes. The movie was set in Seattle so it was kind of dark due to the rain, but I wouldn't expect a movie of this content to be cheery and sunny. It is filmed in dolby digital with virtually no music. If the silence was meant as a quiet homage to the grief, I felt it was effective.

There was a "Discussion about Things we Lost in the Fire." This short featurette is a discussion with the director about the direction of the film and where the script came from. She spoke of casting Halle Berry and the dynamics of the film changing when it became interracial. It offers a little insight to the director's vision. There was a handful of deleted scenes, nothing really worth mentioning. It allowed for a little more background on Del Toro's character but nothing I missed from the movie. All that was left after that was theatrical trailers and previews.

Final Words: