Heaven's Prisoners (1996)

Ex-detective Dave Robicheaux has made a new life for himself and his wife Annie running a bait shop in the outskirts of New Orleans. When they save a little girl, the sole survivor of a ... See full summary »

Director:

Phil Joanou

Writers:

James Lee Burke (book), Harley Peyton (screenplay),

Stars:

Alec Baldwin, Kelly Lynch, Mary Stuart Masterson

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Alec Baldwin	...	Dave Robicheaux
Kelly Lynch	...	Annie Robicheaux
Mary Stuart Masterson	...	Robin Gaddis
Eric Roberts	...	Bubba Rocque
Teri Hatcher	...	Claudette Rocque
Vondie Curtis-Hall	...	Minos P. Dautrieve (as Vondie Curtis Hall)
Badja Djola	...	Batist
Samantha Lagpacan	...	Alafair
Joe Viterelli	...	Didi Giancano
Tuck Milligan	...	Jerry Falgout
Hawthorne James	...	Victor Romero
Don Stark	...	Eddie Keats
Carl A. McGee	...	Toot
Paul Guilfoyle	...	Det. Magelli
Christopher Kriesa	...	Priest (as Chris Krisea)

Storyline

Ex-detective Dave Robicheaux has made a new life for himself and his wife Annie running a bait shop in the outskirts of New Orleans. When they save a little girl, the sole survivor of a plane crash, their lives become forever changed. They take the orphan child into their home and prepare to raise her. However, a visit from DEA agent Dautrieve brings out the detective instincts in Robicheaux and he begins to ask about the rest of the passengers. This brings trouble to Robicheaux and he turns to drug lord Bubba Rocque, a childhood friend. But the friendship becomes estranged when an assault on the Robicheaux home leaves one victim...Annie.

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Plot Keywords:

bayou | stripper | drinking | orphan | airplane crash | 

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Taglines:

For an ex-cop obsessed with an unsolved murder, trusting the wrong woman could be a deadly choice.

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence and language, and for some nudity

Details

Country:

USA UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 May 1996 (USA)

Also Known As:

Mississippi Delta

Filming Locations:

Louisiana, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$25,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

AUD 170,610 (Australia) (1 November 1996)

Company Credits

Production Co:

PVM Entertainment, Rank Organisation, The, Ruddy Morgan Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

132 min 135 min (Ontario)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Originally slated for release in the fall of 1994 when Savoy Pictures (who originally produced and financed the film to it's competition) delayed it. The film was then slated for a 1995 release by the studio, but was finally shelved again because Savoy Pictures had folded in Bankruptcy. Last of the Dogmen was the final film released under the Savoy Pictures banner. Heaven's Prisoners and a few of the remaining titles that had been delayed for release by Savoy, were picked up by other studios. New Line Cinema finally released the film in the Spring of 1996.

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Goofs

When Robin Gaddis sits at the bar answering Robicheaux's questions she has a drink with spear of fruit. In some of the shots, the spear has an orange slice and two cherries, in other shots, an orange slice and one cherry (and no, she doesn't eat one of the cherries).

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Quotes

[on the phone]
Victor Romero: I'm hearin' a lotta stuff I don't like to hear. Most of it's got your name on it. You still there?
Dave Robicheaux: Yeah, I'm still here.
Victor Romero: I hear you wanna cut a slice outta my ass, like I'm responsible for every crime in Louisiana. You're sayin' I'm killin' people on airplanes, in bathtubs; goin' around the Quarter tellin' people I should be lookin' over my shoulder 'fore somethin' heavy falls on me. You there?
Dave Robicheaux: I'm listenin'.
Victor Romero: So I'll tell you my deal. People I do business with are sayin' I'm too ...
[...]

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Connections

Followed by In the Electric Mist (2009)

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Soundtracks

"The Things (That) I Used To Do"
Performed by Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble
Written by Eddie 'Guitar SLim' Jones
Courtesy of Epic Records
By Arrangement with Sony Music Licensing

User Reviews

Against most reviews of this film, for the genre it is it is one of the best.

I put this film up there with "Two Days in the Valley", as one of the most entertaining of its genre of cops-excops-drugs-mob type movies. I think the main criticism of it has to do with the ruthless violence along with the revenge theme of Baldwin's part. But violence is as violence does in film. Although it ends abruptly, Baldwin's acting was still superb, and so was everyone else's acting. All the female actors did superb job, not just Teri Hatcher. The writers could have put more meaningful time and script into the DEA agent's role as he also had added some positive "good guy" vibe to it, although "good-guy vibe" was not 100% present in his role. It was unclear as to why he kept showing up the way he did in the movie. Writing further revelation of that into the movie could have been done and helped round out the movie more. They had a good actor in the role of the DEA agent, as well. Good acting in the role of Baldwin's Bayou employee.