HEAVEN'S PRISONERS
A film review by James Berardinelli
Copyright 1996 James Berardinelli
RATING (0 TO 10): 5.0 Alternative Scale: ** out of ****
United States, 1996 U.S. Release Date: 5/17/96 (wide) Running Length: 2:12 MPAA Classification: R (Violence, profanity, nudity) Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Cast: Alec Baldwin, Mary Stuart Masterson, Kelly Lynch, Teri Hatcher, Eric Roberts, Vondie Curtis-Hall, Samantha Lagpacan Director: Phil Joanou Producers: Leslie Greif, Andre E. Morgan, and Albert S. Ruddy Screenplay: Harley Peyton and Scott Frank based on the novel by James Lee Burke Cinematography: Harris Savides Music: George Fenton U.S. Distributor: New Line Cinema/Savoy Pictures
HEAVEN'S PRISONERS tries very hard not to admit what it really is. By throwing a tangled web of incoherent subplots into the mix, screenwriters Harley Peyton and Scott Frank (GET SHORTY), adapting James Lee Burke's novel, have cleverly concealed the fact that this movie is actually a revenge thriller. Unfortunately, this camouflage has resulted in an overlong, convoluted story that's of limited entertainment value. Had director Phil Joanou (FINAL ANALYSIS) attempted something in the more straightforward style of DEATH WISH, his picture might have worked better. It certainly wouldn't have dragged on for more than two hours.
It's inevitable that, in any movie featuring an alcoholic ex-cop who starts the film on the wagon, there will be some point when he takes a drink. This is just one of many cliches employed by HEAVEN'S PRISONERS. The ex-cop is Dave Robicheaux (Alec Baldwin), a one-time lieutenant on the New Orleans Police Force who got burned out, and, accompanied by his loyal, loving wife, Annie (Kelly Lynch), retired to the bayous, where he operates a bait shop. Dave's new, laid-back life agrees with him -- he looks good and feels great, even if he occasionally gets a craving to down a beer.
One day, Dave and Annie are out on a lake when a single-engine plane crashes into the nearby water. Dave investigates the accident site, where he rescues the sole survivor, a Spanish-speaking little girl. Through a series of rather hard-to-swallow plot contrivances, the child, named Alafair (Samantha Lagpacan), comes to live with the Robicheauxes as an unofficially adopted daughter. But Alafair has a dangerous pedigree. Suddenly, Dave and Annie are receiving some ominous visitors -- hitmen, drug lords, and DEA agents. All of them have one message: keep your nose out of our business. Of course, these warnings pique Dave's curiosity. He stops by to see Robin Gaddis (Mary Stuart Masterson), a strung-out stripper friend with knowledge and contacts, then drops in on a former schoolmate-turned-crime kingpin, Bubba Rocque (Eric Roberts), and his slutty wife, Claudette (Teri Hatcher). For Dave, the price of these visits is steep and bloody.
There's a lot going on in HEAVEN'S PRISONERS, but most of it amounts to very little. The entire background story, which involves dead Federal agents, dueling crime lords, unfaithful wives, and all sorts of unsavory dealings, becomes window dressing for Dave's vengeance. He goes after one bad guy after another, and, no matter how many he kills, there always seems to be someone else. All this leads to an ending that, after one-hundred thirty-plus minutes of watching and waiting, is a big letdown.
Although the characters are all flat stereotypes, that's no excuse for some of the bad acting. Alec Baldwin has a narrow range in which he can be effective; HEAVEN'S PRISONERS frequently makes dramatic demands upon him that he is unwilling or unable to fulfill. The result is an uninteresting, occasionally-overwrought performance. Kelly Lynch is dull as the dutiful wife. Mary Stuart Masterson, who normally is solid, fails to convince as a "bad girl" (much like in the movie of that title). Teri Hatcher (of TV's LOIS AND CLARK fame) plays a superficial femme fatale whose Southern accent is as on-and-off as her clothing. Only a delightful Eric Roberts and Vondie Curtis-Hall (as a DEA agent) can boast any credibility.
Presumably, HEAVEN'S PRISONERS is an attempt to elevate the revenge genre to an newer, more interesting level by including themes of redemption and responsibility. The problem is that retribution in the movies is a vicious, nasty business, and all the extraneous plot elements needlessly encumber the story. Co-writer Scott Frank, who penned MALICE (with Aaron Sorkin) and DEAD AGAIN, is known for twisty scripts, but this one loses itself in the maze. There are too many characters working with too little new material. In fact, this movie is so long-winded and repetitious that there are times when viewers of HEAVEN'S PRISONERS will feel like they're serving a sentence.
- James Berardinelli e-mail: berardin@bc.cybernex.net web: http://www.cybernex.net/~berardin
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