Cheap Heaven's Prisoners (DVD) (Alec Baldwin, Kelly Lynch) (Phil Joanou) Price

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Customer Reviews of Heaven's Prisoners

The movie would be much better if followed the book:
Now, I know the above sounds cliche, but in this case, it's really true. I give the movie four stars for atmosphere and for really trying. I watched this movie twice and enjoyed it both times, for the cinematography alone-- which captures everything from the dense, powerful nature of the Louisiana swamps and bayous; to the gothic power of Louisiana Roman Catholic churches; to the cracked, decaying but colorful beauty of New Orleans itself. And where the movie stuck to the book, it was a very good adaptation. Baldwin falls a bit short in his characterization of Robicheaux, looking more often like he was having "digestive" problems than internal angst, but he obviously loves the character and does his best to depict a very internalized personality. Eric Roberts, by no means matching the physically imposing power of the novel's Bubba Rocque, gives his character the dark, attractive charisma and vitality that author James Lee Burke so often infuses the "gray" characters Robicheaux encounters in the novels, and adds some fun and zing to it, as well. Teri Hatcher is damn nasty, beautiful and seductive in the femme fatale role, and Masterson pulls off her role with just the right amount of sympathy and sass (though physically, each actress matches her opposite character in the novel, but it's not a problem here). It's unfortunate that Kelly Lynch doesn't give Robicheaux's doomed wife such memorable character, but in the novel series the character has one entire book behind her before her tragic end. The real problems come with the Hollywood ending-- why they did this instead of the more realistic and affecting ending in the novel, I'll never know (I recommend you read the book to find out-- it's a much more satisfying and telling conclusion). And the connection to the Giacano family, a recurring Robicheaux nemesis in some of the novels, but not the one on which the movie based, was unnecessary. However, the highly action-packed trolley car and rooftop chase, a purely cinematic addition to the novel's plot does work, very well, in my opinion. These kind of additions are needed for the big screen and I appreciated it. Lastly, the production was very good (Baldwin was one of the producers of the film), just as in Baldwin's "The Shadow" movie, which suffered ultimately from a poor script, and I have to commend him-- this movie very much seemed a labor of love. I wish this film had been more successful, because seeing other installments of James Lee Burke's Robicheaux series on the big screen would be very welcome to me, but alas, despite the "good ol' college try" this will never be. But do pick up the movie and watch it for what it does offer, and then get hold of the Burke novels and you'll really be in for a treat.

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A Good Try to Bring a Great Book to Screen
I have read all of James Lee Burke's David Robicheaux novels. They are fantastic and I highly recommend them to anyone looking for some good reading.

While reading the books I have often tried to pictures which actors could play Robicheaux. A few come to mind: Bruce Willis, Tommy Lee Jones, Harrison Ford and Alec Baldwin. In fact, Baldwin was the guy I pictured the most in the role. And I was amazed to find out he actually was starring and producing the film.

For whatever reasons the film does not fully work. The acting, casting and direction are great. But the film just does not cut it.

If you are fans of the books, the movie is interesting just to see visually what we have been picturing in all these novels. If you are unfamiliar with the books you will find the movie average at best.

My advice is to read some of the books and then check out the film.

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A very underrated movie.
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!