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The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 19, 2007

THINGS WE LOST IN THE FIRE ***
Danish director Susanne Bier brings a stripped-down sensibility to 'Things We Lost in the Fire,' which could have been an overwrought story of loss and redemption but in Bier's hands has powerful revelations.

Strong performances from Halle Berry and Benicio Del Toro also elevate the script from Allan Loeb, which has it share of unbelievable elements. Bier, in her American debut, mostly keeps things simple and intimate, though, by using hand-held cameras, extreme close-ups and flooding the proceedings with spare, natural light.

The visual approach heightens the raw purity of emotion that Berry exudes as Audrey Burke, a wife and mother of two whose husband, Brian (David Duchovny), is sucked into a violent confrontation one night and shot to death. Loeb's script, which skips around in time, shows us what their life was like, as well as the moment Brian is senselessly killed. In every instance, he seems too good to be true.

One of these examples is his bond with Jerry Sunborne (Del Toro), an on-again, off-again heroin addict he'd been close friends with since childhood. The relationship had angered Audrey, who believed Jerry was taking advantage of her husband's extraordinary loyalty and kindness.

Nevertheless, as she grieves, she finds herself seeking Jerry out and asking him to move into the incredibly cool, modern Seattle home she shares with her daughter, Harper (Alexis Llewellyn), and son, Dory (Micha Berry, no relation to Halle). She and the kids need someone around, she reasons; he needs to get clean. The hesitantly tender way they regard each other at Brian's funeral suggests that, through their shared loss, maybe they're both ready to start over and look out for each other.

Del Toro is convincingly damaged - you can see it in his face, the hunched-over way he carries himself - and his awkwardness as he tries to establish a healthy new life is unexpectedly endearing. One aspect of 'Things' that really rings true is its depiction of addiction and recovery - that it's usually not an easy, straight line but rather a challenging series of peaks and valleys.

Jerry mainly spends time around Audrey's house, chain-smoking, playing basketball with the kids, helping with dinner or fixing up the converted garage in the back, which was damaged in the fire of the film's title.

Eventually, he and Audrey are called upon to overstep their casually friendly bounds in ways that are totally implausible and nearly destroy the pervasive sense of realism Bier otherwise had established.

113 minutes; R (drug content and profanity)

GONE BABY GONE ****

In his directing debut, Ben Affleck has found his calling, an avenue for using his obvious intelligence while getting out of the way of his own celebrity. Co-writing the script with longtime friend Aaron Stockard, Affleck presents a place oozing with atmosphere and rich, complicated characters.

Based on the child-abduction novel by Dennis Lehane, 'Gone Baby Gone' is set on the rough streets south of Boston. Much has been written about Affleck's decision to populate the background of this gritty crime drama with authentic locals; he even gave several of them speaking parts during crucial scenes in run-down bars. It was a bold move that paid off big-time. You feel as if you've been immersed in an insular neighborhood, where your block is your entire world and secrecy is a critical trait.

Private investigators Patrick Kenzie (Casey Affleck, Ben's younger brother) and Angie Genarro (Michelle Monaghan), partners in work and love, are hired by the family of the abducted 4-year-old girl Amanda McCready. The relatives figure that no one in the neighborhood wants to tell police if they saw or heard something, but they'll talk to a local guy they know and trust.

Just when you think Patrick and Angie have solved the case, another wrinkle emerges - then another and another. Affleck keeps you hanging on, wondering where he's going next, but never overhypes the proceedings. And the younger Affleck serves as an engaging figure to help us navigate the story's many turns. He comes off as a regular guy who can be both forceful and frightened, and his character ultimately faces decisions that would trouble anyone.

That pervasive sense of moral ambiguity is one of the strongest elements of 'Gone Baby Gone,' and it will you keep you thinkingabout the film long after it's over.

114 minutes; R (violence, drug content and profanity)

Christy Lemire,

The Associated Press

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