Heaven's Prisoners (1996)

Memorable, crazy movie

For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

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.

I thought the opening scene was one of the best movie openings I've ever watched - beautifully written and sensitively played.Drawn in from the outset, I was happy to watch the plot unfold. Yes, it could be argued that the main protagonist brings his troubles upon himself but that is hardly a plot fault - some people do.Problems with the film? I don't know why an actress of Mary Stuart Masterson's caliber should take on such a nothing role. And the plane crash looked cheap and unconvincing. Otherwise, I have no complaints. I love the books and I thoroughly enjoyed the film.I have read the previous reviews which seem to be critical for the most part and I am left wondering why they are so. I've watched a lot of rotten films and this certainly isn't one of them. I give it an eight out of ten. I enjoyed it.

Dave who is a former cop and former drunk takes his wife on a fishing trip and sees a plane crash and rescues a young girl from a watery grave which sets up the plot Did I mention Dave is a a former cop and former drunk ? Good because this might be important apart from Dave being a former drunk . In fact the director and the screenwriter thinks it's so important that Dave used to have a drink problem they drown the audience with a subtext involving alcohol . Umpteen scenes take place in bars even when it's not all that necessary to the plot while nearly every scene not featuring a bar involves characters drinking or referring to alcohol and all the scenes look like they're shot ala booze commercial . Bar scenes look like beer commercials , office scenes look like bourbon commercials and scenes shot on boats off the coast look like rum commercials . I don't know if I'm reading too much into this but since the message that Dave is a former alcoholic is hammered home it drew this reviewer's attention to the number of scenes featuring drink The problem with HEAVEN'S PRISONERS is not only the amount of scenes that seemingly promote drink it's the number of scenes in general . This is a screenplay that needed streamlined in the first draft since nothing much really happens in the first place and when they do they don't really progress the plot very much . Of course it's a character driven story but it's also film noir in nature and the film noir genre isn't known for it's character development so when a character is introduced we know who they are and there's no need to go over the same ground to explain who they are . This is a movie that last for well over two hours when in fact chopping off a good 45 minutes would have been a very good thing . No doubt Baldwin , Roberts and Hatcher had high hopes with this movie improving their careers but it's a damp squib for all involved

The movie is in my opinion not worth seeing if you're not a fan of the beautiful actress Teri Hatcher. The highlight of the movie is undoubtedly the scene where she stands completely nude on a balcony and shows us viewers a good view of her very lovely breasts. If you look very closely you can also see her pubic hair and a very pretty ass through the railing as she turns and walks away. Thanks for that very special moment,Teri! She has of course other scenes in the movie but none of them leave a very lasting impression. Without the nude scene I would probably rate this movie a 5 but because of Teri's body I'll give it a 9.