THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, May 22, 1996 TAG: 9605220040
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E3 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Movie Review
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, MOVIE CRITIC
LENGTH: 70 lines
WAY DOWN yonder in New Orleans folks talk tuff.
I mean REALLY tuffff. ``Heaven's Prisoners,'' the first movie made from James Lee Burke's series of Louisiana mystery novels, is heavy on sleazy atmosphere and lurid peek-a-boo visuals.
Alec Baldwin, who has purchased the rights to the Burke novels and produced ``Heaven's Prisoners,'' plays Dave Robicheaux, an alcoholic ex-New Orleans cop who claims he just wants to run a fish and bait shop in the bayou backwoods with his wife, Annie. But when a plane crashes into his swamp, he's all too eager to snoop into the crime world again.
A Salvadoran child is rescued from the briny deep and adopted by Robicheaux and his wife. It seems, though, that an undercover drug agent was aboard the plane along with the illegal aliens. When a plug-ugly fed comes snooping around, Robicheaux goes to New Orleans to investigate.
``Heaven's Prisoners'' is overly long and is too wandering, but it has some admirable detail in its supporting characters. It's much better at dialogue than it is at plotting, but there are some gems of laughable Southern cliches.
Among the more ridiculous characters are the two villains, Bubba and Claudette Rocque. Bubba is a psychotic boy-man who lives in a tasteless Southern mansion with a boxing ring in his front yard. He's played by Eric Roberts in another standard crazy performance.
Claudette, his Cajun wife, drives him to distraction because she insists on not using coasters when she's slugging down her endless gin rickeys. He doesn't mind at all that she likes to pose nekkid on the front veranda. Teri Hatcher, with less wardrobe than she ever wore in TV's ``Lois and Clark,'' plays the evil Cajun harridan who, behind the scenes, is planning to take over the crime business from her hubby.
Mary Stuart Masterson is woefully miscast as a whore who likes to talk a lot.
Kelly Lynch has the thankless task of playing the wife, Annie.
Dave Robicheaux is one of the more vulnerable heroes of recent movies. He is beaten to a pulp time after time by the plentiful sleazeballs. Baldwin has a believably touching crying scene, but he takes a quiet, perhaps too low-key, tack for Dave. In the style of early Clint Eastwood, he whispers through most of the film.
With the adoption of the rescued Salvadoran child, the little girl might have been something more than a mere prop. Her newfound parents manage to give her a bowl of cereal for breakfast, but otherwise she's largely ignored, even though their commitment to her should be at the heart of the story.
This is the kind of movie in which the hero sweats right through his shirt and the dialogue is matter-of-factly vulgar. You can believe that these people mean what they say, and that they are threats to us all. You believe the characters a good deal more than you can believe the too-simple plot in which they are enmeshed.
``Heaven's Prisoners'' is a worthwhile film if only for the fact that it at least attempts believable characters. With a summer of explosions and unlikely heroics coming up, this film, with its low-life gutsiness, could be an entertaining antidote for those who like things gritty - and of this world. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
[Box]
MOVIE REVIEW
``Heaven's Prisoners''
Cast: Alec Baldwin, Mary Stuart Masterson, Kelly Lynch, Teri
Hatcher
Director: Phil Joanou
MPAA rating: R (nudity, violence, strong language)
Mal's rating: two and 1/2 stars
Locations: Greenbrier Mall, Cinemark in Chesapeake; Main Gate,
Janaf in Norfolk; Columbus, Kemps River, Lynn-haven Mall in
Virginia Beach by CNB