A summary of the movie: Things We Lost in the Fire (2007) Halle Berry

Addiction: Things We Lost in the Fire (2007) Halle Berry
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Addiction: Things We Lost in the Fire (2007) Halle Berry
A summary of the movie
The drama film was written and directed by Allan Loeb and Susanne Bier, respectively, and was released in October 2007. The emotional drama film features two stars in starring roles: Audrey Burke (Halle Berry) and Jerry Sunborne (Benicio Del Toro). Audrey had been happily married to her late husband, Brian Burke (David Duchovny), for eleven years, with whom they got two children: Harper (10 years old) and Dory (6 years old) CITATION Ste07 \l 1033 (Stephen Holden, 2007). As the movie begins, Audrey's husband (Brian) is shot and killed when he visited his friend Jerry for his birthday in his flophouse CITATION Rog07 \l 1033 (Roger Ebert, 2007). Brian died when he tried to stop a stranger from beating Jerry's wife. However, Audrey's husband died because of his loyalism and being a good Samaritan to his friend.
Although their marriage was perfect, Brian's friendship with Jerry brought tension to the family; the two grew up together in their childhood years. Brian could not abandon his friend throughout difficult times. Jerry is a lawyer whose life has drastically changed due to drug addiction, but he tries to overcome his problems after his friend's death. Both Audrey and Jerry have to find ways on how to get through their losses differently. Brian's death was the lifeline to save Jerry from heroin addiction.
In this film, we witness an encounter between a woman bowled over grief and a middle-aged man struggling to overcome drug abuse. Audrey invites Jerry to live with them in an empty room adjacent to their garage after discovering that he connects primally with Harper and Dory. The relationship between Audrey and Jerry is very complicated and vulnerable. But Jerry tries everything possible to help Audrey cope with her husband's death; he even decides to lie with her on the bed so that she gets to sleep CITATION Frend \l 1033 (Frederic & Mary Ann Brussat, n.d.). By default, Jerry becomes a surrogate father to the children who are already fond of him. Audrey becomes angrier when she saw Jerry helping Dory submerge his head in the pool, something her late husband tried for years to help Dory overcome fear.
Moreover, when Audrey discovers the children's trust and over-reliant on Jerry, she becomes more resentful. She decides to throw him out for presuming to take over Brian's responsibilities, and Jerry's heroin addiction worsened. Because of Jerry's bond with the children, Harper becomes angry, seeing Jerry leaving, and he leaves her a heartfelt note. In the end, Jerry is still recovering from his addiction.
Personal reflection on watching the movie
The movie covers two significant themes: Loss and Addiction, and Halle Berry and Del Toro depict them adequately; both characters are real and lovely in their roles. It is a nice but touching story surrounding the life of two people from different families. On my understanding, Brian was killed by other drug dealers who had issues with Jerry, and it significantly influenced Brian's family emotionally. Any form of loss, either through divorce or death, is difficult to cope with, d...