Film

Outside of the emotional pendulum swings of John Cassavetes’s movies, is there anything more monotonous in film than watching people heal? Things We Lost in the Fire offers two recovery dramas for the price of one: After her husband (Duchovny) is fatally shot while saving a stranger from domestic abuse, Audrey (Berry) struggles to raise their two children on her own. In a vaguely symbolic gesture, she invites Duchovny’s ex–heroin addict buddy Jerry (Del Toro) to move in with her, even though he’s struggling to stay off smack.

Bonding with your friend’s kids, studying for a mortgage broker’s license: It’s the new methadone. The movie, however, provides a rather dubious kind of fix. The characters are so poorly drawn, their dilemmas so jerry-rigged for maximum tear-jerk, that Things never emerges as anything more than the phoniest of prestige dramas. A veteran of Dogma filmmaking (Open Hearts), Bier looks a lot less edgy in the Hollywood sun, though one might credit American Beauty director Sam Mendes (who produced) for the atmosphere of generalized blandness.

Inviting Jerry to bed—but only so he can lull her to sleep—Berry’s character is psychological nonsense, but Del Toro, always interesting, suggests an intriguing mix of disdain and gratitude in the scenes involving Jerry’s 12-step program. Still, only Lynch (Arthur Leigh Allen in Zodiac), as a friend of the family, adds a few moments of levity. Not coincidentally, they’re the only moments that feel authentic.