A Year Wiser
I happened to turn on Susanne Bier's Things We Lost in the Fire on HBO a little while ago, and it got me once again. I'm now more certain than ever that the critics and audiences who turned away from this faintly flawed but deeply moving film really missed the boat. Maybe this'll hit some of them down the road and they'll ask themselves, "What was I thinking?"
I really like this section from my 10.5.07 review:
"There can be no beating around the bush about Benicio Del Toro's performance as Jerry the junkie, a once-successful lawyer who's slid down into the pit. Over the course of this two-hour film he climbs out of his drug hole, brightens up, chills out and settles in, relapses, almost dies, and then gradually climbs out of it again.
"I'm starting to see this actor (whom his friends and Esquire magazine profilers call 'Benny') as almost God-like in the Brando sense of that term. He's holding bigger mountains in the palm of his hand, right now, than De Niro held in the '70s and '80s. He's one of the top four or five superman actors we have out there. There isn't a frame of his performance that doesn't hit some kind of behavioral bulls-eye.
"I'll tell you this -- when journalists who've seen Things We Lost in the Fire go 'I don't know...meh' and then say in the same breath that some other so-so film is 'pretty good' there's some kind of virus out there that I don't want to give a name to."
Posted by Jeffrey Wells on October 5, 2008 at 1:50 PM
comment #1
NotImpressedYet
says ...
I caught this for the first time on HBO a couple weeks ago and was underwhelmed. The performances were solid across the board, but Benicio Del Toro's in particular. But the script sucked.
It felt to me like the writer learned everything about drug addiction from the lifetime channel. Never has recovery looked so comfortable and stylish with such nice architecture for a backdrop! Of course his dead best friend was loaded and had an incredibly beautiful house. Of course his dead best friend's neighbor is a rich real estate guy who's willing to hire this guy on. Of course there's gonna be a cute girl in the addict's counseling group who takes an interest in him. Of course Halle Berry's kids are going to be the most adorable looking children in the world. And a million other cliches. The world of this movie bears no relation to real life.
It's too bad. I really loved Brothers and based off that alone will have an open mind about whatever Susanne Bier comes up with next, but this one was a major disappointment.
Posted by NotImpressedYet
at October 5, 2008 2:33 PM
comment #2
gruver1
says ...
Wells to Not Impressed Yet: I gave all of that "of course" stuff a pass because set against the horror of death, drug addiction and ruin, I found it (a) comforting and (b) believable enough to roll with. It's not inconceivable that a guy with a nice house could have an old friend who's descended into drug addiction. Cute kids do exist out there. People in AA and Al-Anon meetings do take an interest in each other. People with money do have instincts to help others if they can. But it's not all comfort, this movie. There's a very deep river of emotional reality going on in this film at every step. Benicio and the other actors sell it by being it.
Posted by gruver1
at October 5, 2008 2:44 PM
comment #3
Chapman Carruthers
says ...
I agree that a lot of the storyline was complete contrived. But then again, there are a number of other decent mainstream movies from the last that did the same. An easy example is Juno, with its ridiculous, there's-always-a-rich-white-family-that's-willing-to-adopt-your-baby, neocon, anti-abortion storyline.
But, shut all that out and focus on the acting. The scene in the diner where Jerry asks Brian about the interest rates, or the one where Jerry fills in the missing details regarding the swimming pool story. Or the nuanced way Omar Benson Miller's character initially reacts to Jerry, and how the dynamic changes by the scene where Neal is holding Jerry down when he's in the throes of withdrawal. There's some good stuff in this movie.
Posted by Chapman Carruthers
at October 5, 2008 3:38 PM
comment #4
Chicago48
says ...
Well, I saw it a few months ago and was surprised that it held my attention because the actors Benicio and Halle just clicked. And this is Halle's best acting, whether people agree or not. Contrived? maybe, but it held my interest when I thought I would walk away, I did not.
Posted by Chicago48
at October 5, 2008 3:54 PM
comment #5
p.Vice
says ...
This is just another Hollywood junkie-gets-clean movie. Typical for a good foreign director making an American debut. If she made this in Denmark it certainly wouldn't have been necessary to show Duchovny getting wasted in flashback, or even show him at all. Talk about crass.
Posted by p.Vice
at October 5, 2008 4:26 PM
comment #6
lazespud
says ...
Caught this last week ENTIRELY because of Gruver's recommendation.
Sorry to say, but my feelings pretty much mirror the first talkbacker's: Good to great performances, but a quite lame at times script that didn't gel in parts and was just dumb in other parts. Particularly the part where del Toro "fell off the wagon" and then needed a severe physical detox after what seemed like a single bender.
Sorry Jeff, I just didn't totally respond to the film like you did and was basically left with a bit above a "meh" feeling. Clearly it hit you with a bit of an emotional wallop but it looks you you're possibly in the minority on this one.
One small quibble... this is yet another movie that takes place in Seattle and it filmed in Vancouver... Argg!!! STOP THIS HOLLYWOOD! Throwing out references to "Renton" (a suburb of seattle where del Toro suposedly lives) does not make it Seattle.
At least they didn't bother with the two second establishing shot of the space needle that every other vancouver production seems to use.
And yes, I'm boycotting "the Battle in Seattle" for this same damn reason. I was in those riots and the last thing I want to see it Charlize Theron dodging fake tear gas in downtown Vancouver...
Posted by lazespud
at October 5, 2008 4:52 PM
comment #7
berg
says ...
Battle in Seattle is a damn good film and you need a better reason than that to avoid it ... and the moment in Things We Lost ... where John Carroll Lynch tells Del Toro he's getting back with his wife, and then Del Toro gives him "the look" is just excellent acting ...
Posted by berg
at October 5, 2008 5:37 PM
comment #8
Rosebudsthesled
says ...
Personally, I trust Billy Eichner on this one.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duB6uZAmMEU
Posted by Rosebudsthesled
at October 5, 2008 5:51 PM
comment #9
BurmaShave
says ...
Misdirected and a bit overcooked, but with a perfect performance at the center of it, it's entirely correct to say this got less recognition than it deserved.
Posted by BurmaShave
at October 5, 2008 6:46 PM
comment #10
huntermdaniels
says ...
It's a damn good movie (I didn't actually see it until last June). The problem it faces is that it isn't a movie-movie. It more conventional film would have had the reveal that Del Toro was the children's real father. Or he would have ended up with Berry.
This film doesn't go for that easier angle. Instead, it goes for the harder sell of realism. It's not easy to dissect this story because it doesn't really follow the normal 3 act structure. It's smarter and more challenging than that.
Posted by huntermdaniels
at October 5, 2008 8:17 PM
comment #11
actionman
says ...
Great directing, great writing, great acting, and great cinematography. Great film all around. Bier hasn't missed yet in her career.
Posted by actionman
at October 6, 2008 6:24 AM
comment #12
teeem
says ...
dear lazespud, Battle in Seattle couldn't afford Seattle; it was made on a very low budget. they did the best they could with what they had, and they did reasonably well. if you care for causes like you seem to, you might like it.
as for "Things...", i saw an early (HOW early, i don't know) version, possibly a work print, and was blown away by BDT and not much else. i love movies, and am often too willing to take the scenario for granted... but this one just looked like Berry's cherry picked "indie oscar script". BDT rose above all the cliches.
Posted by teeem
at October 6, 2008 5:09 PM
comment #13
janee
says ...
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Posted by janee
at May 18, 2011 4:50 AM