I very much liked the latest films of danish director Susanne Bier - from "Open Hearts" to "After the wedding".So I was waiting for her first American film with a mixture of anticipation and anxiety. Would she be able to keep her style or would it be "hollywoodized"? The answer is : Yes and Yes.It is a typical Bier- drama: Strong,true in its emotions and feelings.Bier has always been interested in the fragility of human life and emotions and so the films deals with loss,fear,hope,helplessness and the search for emotional affection. Again a character has to take responsibility in a new found family. Benicio del Toro and Halle Berry play two persons devastated by the death of a third,who try to stabilize their lives with the help of each other.Luckily the film never succumbs to the easy solution of a conventional romance and stays open till the end.The acting generally is excellent,also in minor roles by Duchovny and Lohman, but it's really del Toro's film.In every pore of his face we can feel the fight of a drug-addict to get clean and stay so. But the film also has its drawbacks.As a member of the Dogma Movement Bier always had a penchant for extreme close-ups.This can be very effective,but here she clearly overdid it.The amount of mostly eyes, cheeks and hands takes away the concentration of the viewer and makes the film in parts too slow.The development of the scenario is sometimes schematic and predictable.The smoothing influence of Hollywood is clearly noticeable.I would have liked to see this film as a danish production, written by Anders Thomas Jensen and played by Mikkelsen and S.B.Knudsen in the main roles.I'm sure the result would be rougher and nearer to life.What also annoyed me was the character of Duchovny: He is way too perfect, a superhuman good samaritan.To resume: For a Hollywood drama the film is quite good, for a Bier film it is slightly disappointing.
Review of Things We Lost in the Fire
