Things We Lost in the Fire (2007)

A recent widow invites her husband's troubled best friend to live with her and her two children. As he gradually turns his life around, he helps the family cope and confront their loss.

Director:

Susanne Bier

Writer:

Allan Loeb

Stars:

Halle Berry, Benicio Del Toro, David Duchovny

3 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Halle Berry	...	Audrey Burke
Benicio Del Toro	...	Jerry Sunborne
David Duchovny	...	Brian Burke
Alexis Llewellyn	...	Harper Burke
Micah Berry	...	Dory Burke
John Carroll Lynch	...	Howard Glassman
Alison Lohman	...	Kelly
Robin Weigert	...	Brenda
Omar Benson Miller	...	Neal
Paula Newsome	...	Diane
Sarah Dubrovsky	...	Spring
Maureen Thomas	...	Grandma Ginnie Burke
Patricia Harras	...	Howard's Wife
V.J. Foster	...	Distressed Man (as VJ Foster)
Caroline Field	...	Teresa Haddock (as Carolyn Field)

Storyline

Grief, recovery, and human contact. Brian is a great guy - a sweet father, a good husband, and a loyal friend to his boyhood pal Jerry who's a junkie. When tragedy strikes, Jerry tries to help Brian's wife and children cope, and Audrey, Brian's widow, tries to help Jerry kick the habit. Loss and addiction are stubborn. The story starts on the day of the funeral, with Brian appearing in flashbacks. A neighbor's divorce, a dinner party that includes a young woman from the Narcotics Anonymous group Jerry attends, and thinking back to a fire in Brian and Audrey's garage give the story texture.

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Plot Keywords:

addiction | grief | dinner | recovery | garage | 

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Taglines:

Hope comes with letting go.

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for drug content and language

Details

Official Sites:

Paramount [France] Paramount [United States]

Country:

USA UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 October 2007 (USA)

Also Known As:

Nos souvenirs brûlés

Filming Locations:

Kitsilano, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$16,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$1,561,949 (USA) (19 October 2007)

Gross:

$2,849,142 (USA) (26 October 2007)

Company Credits

Production Co:

DreamWorks Pictures, Neal Street Productions, DreamWorks SKG

Technical Specs

Runtime:

118 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Release prints were shipped to some theaters under the fake title "Water".

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Quotes

Harper Burke: Why is Grandma sleeping all day?
Audrey Burke: She's sedated.
Harper Burke: I don't know what that means, Mom.
Audrey Burke: She's taking pills to help her sleep. She lost her son, Harper. That's the worst pain anyone can go through.
Harper Burke: Worse than losing your dad?

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Connections

Featured in Siskel & Ebert: Episode dated 20 October 2007 (2007)

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Soundtracks

"Black Napkins"
Written & Performed by Frank Zappa
Courtesy of The Zappa Family Trust

User Reviews

Accept the Good

Greetings again from the darkness. Very good melodrama from Scandanavian director Susanne Bier. The film is intentionally slow moving ... just like real life tragedy. Although we could have been beaten over the head with the cute as heck kids, the story is actually more focused on the heroin addicted best friend played by Benecio del Toro. This makes the point that strength can come from many sources.

Halle Berry gives her best performance since "Monster's Ball" (yes even better than "Catwoman"). We feel her happiness, pain, desperation and hope. The cute kids are played by an amazing 11 yr old Alexis Llewellyn and Micah Berry (not her real life son). Also strong is Alison Lohman, who just doesn't work enough these days. However the strongest performance is by Benecio. I am not sure if the role was written for him or if he just perfectly captures best friend Jerry. It is most complicated role and requires enormous depth.

I definitely recommend the film thanks to its basis in reality and fine performances and terrific direction. However, I will qualify it by saying that I don't believe it is quite in the class of "21 Grams"