Heaven's Prisoners

Despite its New Orleans flavor, an honest performance by Alec Baldwin and nice turns by Eric Roberts and Teri Hatcher (whose role as a seductive femme fatale fits her like a glove; she should try it more often), this morose action/crime flick is generic and unremarkable. If you run across this movie at the video store, don't be fooled by the "name" cast and pass it up. Highlight: the chase scene midway through. (**)

I love reading James Lee Burke's novels about Dave Robicheaux. I also love movies set in New Orleans or anywhere in Louisiana. They always have good music and interesting characters. This film is no exception. Now, I will not compare the movie to the book. Each has to stand on it's own as an art form. I just like seeing some favorite characters brought to life on screen. Don Stark (Bob from "That '70s Show"), Hawthorne James (Se7en, Amistad), and Oscar nominee Eric Roberts (Runaway Train, The Dark Knight, A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints) played bad guys and they had a New Orleans flavor about them. Oscar-nominee Alec Baldwin (The Cooler) seemed a little forced in his attempt to be Cajun. Teri Hatcher ("Desperate Housewives") was hot as usual, especially when she was standing starkers on the balcony. Joe Viterelli (Analyze This, Analyze That) was perfect as a mob boss. Kelly Lynch, Vondie Curtis-Hall ("Chicago Hope") and Mary Stuart Masterson (Benny & Joon) rounded out a great cast in a good movie.

The characters are not believable. The story itself is not good enough in my opinion. There is no tension in the story to speak of. The direction is unimaginative. There is stuff in this movie that is totally irrelevant to the plot. I guess all of it was introduced in the name of character development. I would have preferred if some 30 irrelevant minutes were cut out. Acting is ordinary if not terrible. Baldwin is OK but the rest of the cast is very hard to watch. All in all a waste of time. The one, perhaps the only redeeming feature, is the location at which this film was shot. It is gorgeous. I think I'm being generous in giving it a 4 out of 10. We may not know what makes a movie good . It does help however, to see movies like these once in a while, so at least we'll know what makes it bad :)(It helps to be sure of something).

Nearly remake of 'The Big Easy' with very similar plot. Former police detective, supposedly kicked off force, for excessive violence, becomes involved in criminal underworld machinations involving his old childhood friend. Some New Orleans ambiance but not enough for dyed-in-the-wool fans. Essentially slightly above-average action film with lots of graphic violence and not too many surprises in the plot.

I remember going to great lengths to fit a matinée showing of HEAVEN'S PRISONERS into a busy Saturday afternoon during its 1996 theatrical release. Considering the source material and the talent behind and in front of the camera, our little filmgoing party of detective-film fans and Alec Baldwin groupies (a.k.a. my mom, my stepfather, and me) found this contemporary film noir to be a big disappointment. Baldwin, who also served as co-producer, brought James Lee Burke's New Orleans ex-cop/recovering alcoholic hero Dave Robichoux from the printed page to the big screen. While Baldwin and the rest of the cast did well in fleshing out Burke's characters and have some tangy tough-guy/gal dialogue, they're hampered by two things: 1.) The film's slo-o-o-ow pacing. Maybe the Louisiana heat got to everyone, not just Baldwin. Of all the actors, Long Island native Baldwin sweats the most, so much that it began to remind me of the sweating-bullets gags with Albert Brooks in BROADCAST NEWS and Robert Hays in AIRPLANE! 2.) A plot that, as rendered in the film (whether it's the fault of the screenwriter or the editor, I can't be sure), never quite follows through on any of its elements. It's too bad, because these elements could've made for an exciting movie: drug dealing, illegal alien smuggling, rival crime bosses (one is played colorfully by Eric Roberts before he became a parody of himself, essentially playing a Southern-fried version of his character from director Phil Joanou's 1992 thriller FINAL ANALYSIS), an adorable little Salvadoran orphan girl (named "Alafair" by the Robichouxs, after Dave's mom. Late in my pregnancy at the time, I liked the name Alafair so much, I nearly changed my mind about naming my then-unborn daughter Siobhan!), and a bevy of beautiful, beguiling women, including earth mother Kelly Lynch, vampy Teri Hatcher in a full-frontal * scene that was much ballyhooed at the time, and Mary Stuart Masterson, looking like a young Jessica Lange in what was then a change-of-pace role for her: a troubled * who loves Robichoux. Despite the sexy promises in the movie's ads, none of the ladies share anything with Baldwin but dialogue and some kisses and/or embraces. Maybe the climate was already so hot, the filmmakers didn't want to add any further steaminess for fear of poor Baldwin collapsing from heat prostration! As my mom put it at the time: "I thought the height of my day would be seeing sexy, dashing Alec Baldwin, but he came up sweaty, rumpled, tired, depressed, and moving as if he was in slow motion. If he'd made love as many times as he got beaten up, it would've been the sexiest picture of '96!" To be fair, there *are* a number of strong characterization and action scenes, but there's just too darn much talky, molasses-paced lag time between them -- and yet, oddly, some of the scenes end abruptly just as they're about to become intriguing! Perhaps Joanou, Baldwin & Co. could've dredged a tighter, more involving thriller out of this if they'd whittled the 140-minute running time down to 105 minutes or so. As HEAVEN'S PRISONERS is now...well, read James Lee Burke's books instead.

Excellent movie. Takes place in steamy sultry New Orleans. I love movies that really explore the city, and this is no exception. New Orleans is wonderful city, even though it will never be the same as it once was. Just like "Tightrope" and "No Mercy" New Orlens is one of the main characters of this film. Eric Roberts as a rich bad guy and Alec Baldwin as he ex-cop are excellent in this film. Mary Stuart Masterson did a great job too as a lovable * with a heart of gold. Did I mention that Teri Hatcher is naked in this film? Oh, yes she is. What I might say to her in this movie: "No, I don't like your butterfly, but I like everything else around it". He he.

while this movie does not really capture the flavor of Burkes "prose" it's nice to see recognition of one of fictions better characters. Noticeably missing is the character "Clete Purcell" who was Dave R's former NOPD homicide partner. I see that Tommy Lee Jones will tackle A TV version of another Robicheaux mystery of which 16 Robicheaux novels have been written. Moe action by Baldwin and an interplay between he and the missing Clete Purcell might have brought this movie along further into another feature. New Orleans is always the great mixture of characters and places for mystery, murder and mayhem. Alex Baldwin does a great job given some of the missing flavor of James Lee Burkes writing. Baldwin made a great looking "Shadow" as well with an unfortunate script.

Not exactly faithful to the book but the film certainly delivers as an enjoyable thriller. Alec Baldwin is superb as Robicheaux, Lynch, Masterson and Hatcher are rather pretty and give the film what is needs but are mainly forgotten about as the film progresses. Roberts shows that he does have a great deal of talent to offer when it comes to a juicy part like this. The film isn't brimming with action thankfully but it has a number of lengthy and exciting action sequences. It seems to me that Baldwin is becoming something of the thinking mans action hero. Whilst Willis is off doing the brainless actioners Baldwin manages to get the intelligent movie. This is a fine example as is The Edge. Baldwin makes this movie stunningly enjoyable and the supporting actors help a little but Baldwin manages to carry the whole thing single handedly.

Ex-cop and ex-drunk Dave Robicheaux has got his life back and makes a living selling bait outside New Orleans with his wife Annie. When they witness a plane crash into the river, Dave saves a little girl and they decide to keep her since she has been orphaned. However, when they then get a visit from the DEA and some local heavies it is apparent that the plane was doing more than just carrying a few illegals and soon Dave finds his new life rapidly crumbling around him. Opening with a stylish and atmospheric semi to-camera confession, this film immediately caught my interest and managed to hold throughout despite not actually being that good. The film is set in the Deep South and is full or rather annoying mannerisms and clichés from that area that put me off a bit. Despite this, I still quite enjoyed it; the plot meanders out of control a bit and involves too many characters to really keep a tight emotional grip on the audience but it still have enough grit and tension to it to keep you watching. Some elements are better than others though - when the film focuses on Dave and his tough investigation it is great; but when it tries to expand (eg with Robin) it just comes across as baggy. The film hasn't got massive action scenes but it does have some good chases and moments of thrills - most notably a roof top chase across New Orleans. These are fine but the film does too much talking in slow southern drawls for my liking - also making the film feel a lot longer than it probably was! The talking is fine, but it does more than enough to set the tone and action - and then it keeps talking! Combine this with the characters and you have a film that can't help but feel baggy and slightly disjointed. The one thread that holds it all together though is Baldwin. He gives a great performance across the whole film; dealing well with the various emotions that it throws at him. Roberts is OK, certainly better than some other rubbish I've seen him in. Lynch is given little to do but look good in a bikini; Masterson is not cast well and doesn't fit into the trashy * role; Hatcher gets naked and looks good but her character is not dealt with that well by the script. The support cast includes Hall and Guilfoyle but this is Baldwin's film and, for it's other faults, he carries it with him. The direction is also good; using some very good shots to up the tension and the pace of the film at key moments - if only the editor had been a bit more persistent though. Overall this is a tough noir-ish thriller that works well for the majority despite feeling bogged down by dialogue and characters at times. If you can put up with the heavy Southern drawls and the iced-tea clichés then it is worth a look.

source: Heaven's Prisoners