Things We Lost in the Fire

Audrey Burke (Halle Berry) has just lost her husband Brian (David Duchovny) , he was killed while helping someone on the street. In the midst of her grief she must reach out to tell Brian's best friend Jerry Sunborne (Benicio Del Toro). Jerry is a heroine addict, but Brian was a faithful friend through it all. Brian reached out to Jerry in friendship no matter what, even when Jerry was making no effort to get clean (see 1Cor. 13 for a more complete description of this commitment to someone else). Yet, this friendship had caused strain on the Burke's marriage. Audrey was jealous of Brian's time, maybe rightfully so.
But when Brian dies, Audrey and Jerry reach out to each other and help one another. Audrey lets Jerry move in to the garage and live with the family (they have two children, 6 and 10). The kids get understandably confused, thinking Jerry is there to replace their father.

Sometimes tragedies strike, and life is incredibly hard. We are left vulnerable, hurt, pained, and in need of the Healer of our souls. Everyone in this film was rocked by the loss of Brian. Stuffing down the hurt and pain would not help anyone. The film does a great job in investigating grief. Audrey had to hold it together for a while, for the sake of her kids and for continuing to move forward. But in her own time, she broke down in a healthy way. Grief must come out. Jerry dealt with the loss in his own way. He started going back to his Narcotics Anonymous meetings, which is a great picture of communal accountability, love, and support. He wanted to help out Brian's family, out of love and maybe out of repaying a debt. You see, Brian never gave up on his friend, and never put ultimatums on his love. We do that a lot, I know I have. We must figure out a way to love those around us no matter what they do. We have to encourage our friends in the right way, not enable them to continue to hurt themselves or those around us. But true love never fails. So let us strive for that delicate balance, but attempt to push forth (God-willing) with God's completely unconditional love.

One thing that stuck out to me was the healing process for Audrey. The themes in this film are ones of great importance to me lately, necessitated by my own life experiences. Audrey began to heal when she reached out to help others. Isaiah 58:9-12 says:

⁹ Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
"If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,

¹⁰ and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.

¹¹ The LORD will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.

¹² Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
and will raise up the age-old foundations;
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,
Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.

God will satisfy us, strengthen our frame, restore us and heal us. But so often this can happen
by us spending ourselves on behalf of others, the poor, oppressed, hurting, disillusioned, etc. We heal by being a healing agent in others' lives. But we must always remember that ultimately, Jesus Himself is the Healer, the one to restore our lives from brokenness.


Things We Lost in the Fire is a fantastically acted picture of grief and healing, one that requires courage to delve in to. It is a depressing film, and so often those are the best kind.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Indiana Jones films are the most entertaining movies in the history of mankind. How can you possibly have more fun watching something? That being said, it was a bold move by Spielberg and Lucas to bring back the franchise after 19 years (aside from the fact that they knew they would make more money than most small countries' GDP). Everyone already has an opinion on this latest one, and here's mine: sweet. If you haven't seen it yet, The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull has a controversial ending that has many people angry and frustrated. It didn't bother me at all. Maybe I just like the flavor of Indy Kool-Aid too much.

So this time around Indiana Jones is really old. He is still teaching, and still searching for lost artifacts. The bad guys this time around are the Russians (led by Cate Blanchett), and it is 1957, Cold War fever. We first join our hero after he has been captured by the Reds and led to a top-secret military facility in Roswell, New Mexico (which, incidentally is where they stored the Ark of the Covenant). Indy is coerced into finding a box with a special mummified artifact inside. What is it? Honestly, it seemed pretty obvious to me the whole film, but apparently some people were surprised. Anyway, the fun ensues from there, and Indy eventually meets Mutt (Shia LaBeouf, the luckiest guy in the world). Mutt's mother is in danger, and the only thing that can save her is to find El Dorado, the mythical city of gold in South America. They go in search of the Crystal Skull, and then proceed to return that skull to its origin.

In order to watch and Indiana Jones film, you must suspend your disbelief and know that there will be many outrageous events happening. You must be able to say "Yeah, I guess Indy could survive an atomic blast" or "I guess I'll forgive the shotty research, and say it's no big deal that they implied the Mayans lived in Peru, instead of Mexico/Guatemala." You just have to go with the flow, it's way more fun. It may be harder now that I am an adult, whereas I grew up with the first three films. It is very different to see a new Indy after seeing the others when you are 9 years old, and that did concern me at first. But I just decided that I could be a kid again for a few hours, and it worked. And a quick sidenote, the best line in the film :"Just say 'grab onto the rope.'"

Indiana Jones epitomizes the desire we all have for adventure and excitement. He is adventure. He does whatever needs to be done without really thinking ahead. He jumps in with both feet and somehow comes out alive. Jones films also take that mythology that we all know, at least a little, and makes it come alive. Some of them may be fables, some I believe to be true (the Ark's power for one). These films let us believe that anything is possible, and there are mysteries still yet to be solved. I believe that the vast majority of humanity wants to believe that there are countless mysteries that we don't know. Hardly anyone wants to believe that everything is explainable by science and research. That's just not exciting. It also reflects the fact that God's creation will always have an element of mystery. We will never know the whole story of this place, or of God until "that day."

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull delivers the fun, the adventure, and the excitement. It doesn't quite deliver in terms of an interesting mystery of folklore as much as, say, the first and third films. There are a few things that fall short, but overall I do think this Indy lives up to the name. It may not be as good as Raiders of the Lost Ark or Last Crusade (the best), but it definitely equals Temple of Doom. Even though Dr. Jones is old, he still packs a wicked punch.

Iron Man

The summer movie season kicks off this year with Iron Man (and snow here in Denver, by the way). This superhero film, directed by Swingers "wingman" John Favreau, follows the usual formula but takes it to another level.

The fantastic Robert Downey Jr. plays Tony Stark, the world's foremost weapons developer. After being kidnapped and seeing his weapons in use by the enemy, Stark has a change of heart. He decides to use his immense wealth and power for good instead of for the bottom line. And yeah, he makes a flying armored suit. It's sweet.

Iron Man deals with the ethics of war, even if the special effects take center stage. Are those who make weapons responsible for their use? Where does business ethics come in? Do we need to make these massively destructive weapons to keep peace in the world? Is it a necessary evil? Do those who have more have a greater responsibility to do more with that (ie. Jesus' parable of the talents in Mt. 25)? If so, Stark was not using his talents wisely at all at the beginning of the movie. But by the end, he decided to stop being incredibly selfish and start doing good, even at great personal sacrifice. Iron Man is a different kind of super-hero. Like Batman, he does not have super-powers or genetic mutations. This is all based upon money and science. Therefore, this superhero is more believable and realistic (this can be a plus or minus, depending on your preference). But it is clear that, with the right tools and funding, a great deal of good can be done in this world. Though ultimately, the world will still be the world, and evil will still be evil, no matter how much we fight it. That doesn't mean we stop fighting though. We are called to fight, but we as Christians are also to remember that the only lasting change comes by the power of Jesus Christ, not by anything that we can do.

What makes this film epically enjoyable is the performance of Downey Jr. He is hilarious, yet carries the depth and realism of the character very well. Terrence Howard, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Jeff Bridges all do great, but it is truly Downey Jr.'s show. The script is great, with a fantastic balance of action, comedy, and thought. It is a popcorn flick, but a perfectly tuned one. It makes us think, but also makes us laugh and makes our jaws drop (especially that Audi R8, wow). For the second summer in a row, we have a film that is all that summer movies should be. It's time to get excited about all the other potentially great "summer movies" to come this year (Indiana Jones, The Happening, The Dark Knight).