Heaven's Prisoners | | Cast : | Alec Baldwin, Kelly Lynch | | Director : | Phil Joanou | | Studio : | New Line Home Entertainment | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned | | Released Date : | May 17, 1996 | | DVD Released Date : | October 07, 2003 | | Language : | English (Dubbed) | | Audience Rating : | R (Restricted) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | July 12, 2005 | | Summary | Alec Baldwin Could've Been Hard-Boiled But Ends Up Soggy | Content
 | 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 nude 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 stripper 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.
|
| Rating | | | Date | February 22, 2005 | | Summary | Better then Jole Blone | Content
| This is an outstanding movie-if- you know how to watch it! The Cajun life is very different from what most folks think and this flick was made to the Cajun Standard. We ain't talken Miami Vice here. Even the inbred,line bred villins did an exceptional job. Eddie Keech and Victor Ramono looked as if they were born with 8 count shrimp in their mouth. The BB King Blues music in the bars was alright but there could of been some Androux Bordoux music instead as so the movie could really live up to what they were trying to reproduce. I think all the cast did a good job (next time use some Buyoo stand-ins). Overall this movie is about the best Cajun movie around. I put it right up there with the 1974 hit "Hard Times"with Charles Bronson and Robert Tessier!
"ENJOY" |
| Rating | | | Date | December 26, 2004 | | Summary | Imperfection with a Flavour | Content
| If every movie were perfect, if every script were flawless, if every actor were Humphrey Bogart and every actress were Lauren Becal, if every director were John Huston then what fun would there be on Oscar night? I am a `B' movie fan and this is a really fine example of a `B' detective movie. Plenty of action, plenty of beautiful scenery and people, a halfway decent plot, plenty of logical unpredictability, and it plays well on the small screen. It has more grit than "The Big Easy" and a fairly good cast. And it has an honesty that saves us from suffering through an ending with a dime store moral. This is a good one for one of those evening when you have nothing else to do and no one special to do it with. So warm up the VCR/DVD, pop up a big bowl, dump on the butter and salt, pop the top on a cool one and enjoy. |
| Rating | | | Date | October 05, 2004 | | Summary | A good primer | Content
| The best thing that I can say about this movie is that it led me to the incredible series of novels by James Lee Burke featuring Dave Robicheaux, the tortured ex-soldier, ex-detective, ex-drinker, ex-philanderer, ex-etc. Like so many other deep literary character studies, this film version comes off flat and superficial because it dwells on the superficial elements of events and scenery. What makes Burke's novels so great is the psychic depth of the characters. Each character, no matter how minor, has a birthplace, a childhood, memory and environment that informs his or her presence in the story. Even the scenery in his novels has history. There are ways to bring all of this to the screen, but it doesn't happen here. Alec Baldwin made a credible Dave Robicheaux, but the rest of the film is mostly eye candy, with the exception of Hawthorne James as the scary assassin. James must have read the book. One reviewer said it was a good way to capture the atmosphere of the novels. A better way is to visit New Iberia and spend an afternoon on the chamber of commerce's "Dave Robicheaux Tour." |
| Rating | | | Date | May 24, 2004 | | Summary | A very underrated movie. | Content
| This is quite simply a 4-star production of a 5-star book. Many people only rented a copy to fast forward straight to the Teri Hatcher nude scene, while some actually wanted to see the screen adaptation of a wonderful book by James Lee Burke. Many seem to attack Alec Baldwin's portayal of the lead character, Dave Robicheaux, but I actually think he did a very respectable job. Sure his Cajun accent wasn't 100% dead on, but that isn't all that makes a character. The Robicheaux character, throughout the series of books, is a flawed character that is full of heart and that is exactly how it comes across on-screen. It seems as if every other role was perfectly cast, especially the role of Claudette (played by Teri Hatcher). Every last detail is done perfectly, from the accent down to the sultry demeanor. The plot brings plenty of action scenes, with many scenes that bring out emotion. If the production studio hadn't been nearly broke when this movie was made (and subsequently put on the shelf for a couple of years), therefore going vastly unpublicized, it would have been more successful at the box office. Don't let the numbers fool you, this is quite a film. The Teri Hatcher balcony scene sure helps too! |
|
Picture 01 (20)
