RECOMMENDED “Things We Lost in the Fire,” a title inspired perhaps by the gorgeous moan of the band Low, is the American debut of director Susanne Bier, whose Danish movies, including “Brothers” and “Open Hearts,” demonstrate a fond embrace of simple dramatic equations and broad emotional complications with a delicate sense of balance. “Things,” which could be called “Mourning in America,” is not the marvel of her earlier work, but its story of two wounded souls who try to restore their lives after separate tragedies (Halle Berry, failed lawyer-cum-addict Benicio Del Toro) has many moments of demonstrative turmoil, some perhaps overly self-conscious, but still the sort of attempt at grown-up trauma and drama we see too little of on the big screen. (I actually admire the moments of melodramatic meltdown each of the actors is given on a plate.) As always, there’s too little of John Carroll Lynch and his empathetic gifts, as a neighbor of Berry’s family. With David Duchovny, Alison Lohman, Omar Benson Miller. 112m. (Ray Pride)
The Fundamental Things: Ira Sachs' Passages Sachs says "Passages" is about "love and its complexity and intimacy" with his trio of characters caught up in a bisexual triangle.
