Watch Things We Lost in the Fire For Free

As Good As It Gets

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

Everyday is a struggle and everyday something is being lost. On some days you lose more than on others. But there is always something you can gain, even in loss. It's always about perspective, but also about dealing with things happening to you. And when you have top class actors like Halle Berry and Benicio Del Torro portraying the main characters in your movie, you know you can't really go wrong with that.Having said that, the movie is not the easiest to watch, but even if you know where this is going. It's not only about how the characters are able to cope, but if you as a viewer are ready to go on that journey with them. If you decide you are, the movie will "treat" you. It may help you put on a different perspective on some things too ...

Things We Lost in the Fire (2007)A probing, emotional, deeply felt, sometimes slow, but necessarily slow movie. I think in some ways it's an astonishing and beautiful attempt to get at some very very basic things about love and loneliness and family needs.I didn't start appreciating it all, and in fact the first five minutes might strike some people as sentimental and false. But this quickly disappears, and the emotions are real. If the music is melancholy and pushing the drama, so be it. It's heavy stuff.The structure is a contemporary commonplace and it sometimes seems confusing but I came to think this was a good thing overall, making you pay attention to a fairly ordinary plot line. And it would allow you to see the movie again. It's got a lot of layers. The music shifts suddenly, the scenes jump from one reference to another, and from one time to another, and things are interrelated just because they all are happening to the same people at the same time, quite naturally.The star by far is an astonishing and humble Benicio Del Toro. He plays an addict, or a recovering addict, and he doesn't overplay it. It's an award winning performance. Next to him is Halle Barry, who rises to the top of her ability, I think. She's perfect as a suffering widow, again not overplaying it. The person who keeps these two at their best has to be the director, Susanne Bier, who I had never heard of. She's a Danish-born director who has several really good films now to her credit which most Americans haven't seen, but one, "Brothers," was so good they made an American remake of it. See the original, which is pretty amazing (as is "After the Wedding").So, if you have the emotional stuff to deal with it, give this a whorl.

Susanne Bier goes the same secure (and economically successful) path as e.g Lars Hallström and several other good European film makers. From credible pieces of art touching real emotions to standardized Hollywood productions. The authors are OK, some better than OK, but Halle Berry personalize the impersonal, over-sweetened and superficial impression of the movie.This is another example of a basically good story and a good film maker turning out in an uninteresting result. Although Bier is not in the same league as e.g. Lars von Trier, she has made several interesting films listed at IMDb. I recommend Susanne Bier's earlier Danish productions instead of this meal of lobster marinated in coca cola.

If you're going with that feeling "this is going to be an awesome motion picture", I highly recommend you slow down your expectations. On the other hand don't think it's going to be junk, it won't. Don't expect to be extraordinary ... and don't expect it to be trash. If you have something more interesting to do with your time forget about this movie and watch it when you're bored and got nothing to do. That way this movie will be worthy.The story line is somehow boring and non-existent, when it ends feels like you're in the middle expecting more development. Nothing really special with the characters or the story happens from 25 mins-end. On the other hand, the acting and the message is good. This is mainly a "human" movie. Walks around "human" things. The issue of loosing somebody important in our lives, the issue of people hitting the bottom of their lives, the issue of we giving another shot to others, among other things.This isn't great because it just doesn't keep you wishing for the next scene like "and now?? What happens??" like great movies do, so if you are the type of person who usually loves development and a good story, forget about this. On the other hand, if you are interested in human relations, this will be good. Under that aspect, it's very realistic and the acting won't disappoint.So best way to qualify this? Average, somehow enjoyable, but definitely average movie, good to kill some time in a boring Sunday afternoon.