After the commercial misfire of Perfect Stranger, Cleveland's Halle Berry is back in Oscar-worthy territory with the wrenching drama Things We Lost in the Fire.

She also has a more than able co-star in Benicio del Toro, a fine script by Allan Loeb and marvelous, subtle direction by Susanne Bier. It all adds up to the touching exploration of grief, love and the complications of marriage.

Berry plays Audrey Burke, who has an idyllic life with husband Brian (David Duchovny). The only point of stress is Brian's loyalty to his childhood friend Jerry Sunborne (del Toro), a drug addict, who still gets regular visits and an occasional helping hand from Brian.

Then Brian is killed. Audrey, looking for a way to deal with her own loss and her children's, reaches out to Jerry as a connection to the departed Brian.

But Jerry is not a replacement for Brian. He still has a drug problem to overcome, for one thing. Beyond that, he had a relationship with Brian that was a thing apart from Audrey's own, reminding her not only of what she has lost but what she never had.

And Jerry is simply not Brian, so his approaches to problems are different. And even his being different is a reminder to Audrey, and to Jerry himself, of what has been Please see 'Lost', D3

Continued from Page D1 lost with Brian's death.

This is a movie of silences, and thoughts, and expressive faces. Del Toro's Jerry spends a fair amount of time looking as if he is trying to break through the fog of his addictions, but he also conveys the intelligence underneath.

One of Berry's hallmarks is vulnerability, and she makes full use of that here. Still, like del Toro, she brings nuances to that vulnerability, and a determination that pushes through Audrey's pain.

Of course, all the good acting in the world may not overcome a poor script or indifferent direction. Fortunately, Things We Lost in the Fire does not suffer on either count.

Loeb, getting his first produced script after years of writing, understands the territory of grief very well, without excessively manipulating it. Bier's direction is also subtle and trusts the characters to make the movie instead of forcing them through arbitrary plot turns.

Because of that, we're not only drawn into the emotional worlds of Audrey and Jerry, but we also get vivid portraits of people around them portraits made even better by the fine supporting performances by Alison Lohman as a recovering addict and John Carroll Lynch as one of Audrey's neighbors.

On paper, and occasionally on-screen, Things We Lost in the Fire can seem like an obvious tale of loss and recovery. You also may take issue with some of the things people do as they cope. But in the end, the movie and its people will have stuck with you. Their flaws are understandable, their pain is unmistakable. But they try to carry on.