Heaven's Prisoners (1996)

A hardened New Orleans cop, Dave Robicheaux, finally tosses in the badge and settles into life on the bayou with his wife. But a bizarre plane crash draws him back into the fray when his family is viciously threatened.

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:

based on novel | villainess | female full frontal nudity | old flame | orphan | 

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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:

New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$25,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$2,308,797, 17 May 1996, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$5,005,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Isobel Griffiths Limited, PVM Entertainment, Savoy Pictures

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

The name of the character Alafair in the movie and book is the real name of the author's (James Lee Burke) own daughter, who is now also a writer.

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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

[Toot holds a straight razor to Dave's neck]
Eddie Keats: Now, you can get outta this easy, or Toot can sculpt your ears off and make your head look like a fuckin' mannequin. He'd love to do it for you. He was a voodoo priest or some fuckin' thing down in Haiti. Tell him what you did to Robin, Toot.
Toot: You talk too much. Get finished. I want to eat.
Eddie Keats: Guess what he did to her.
Dave Robicheaux: Fuck you!
Eddie Keats: What?
Dave Robicheaux: You heard me, I said fuck you. Whatever you do to me here, I'm gonna square, and if I don't, I got friends who will.
Eddie Keats: Yeah?...

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Connections

Referenced in Showbiz Today: Episode dated 14 May 1996 (1996)

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Soundtracks

Baby Bee
Performed by Kenny Neal
Written by Kenny Neal and Bob Greenlee
Courtesy of Alligator Records
By Arrangement with Warner Special Products

User Reviews

Fantastic stuff!

Not exactly faithful to the book but the film certainly delivers as an enjoyable thriller.

Alec Baldwin is superb as Robicheaux, Lynch, Masterson and Hatcher are rather pretty and give the film what is needs but are mainly forgotten about as the film progresses. Roberts shows that he does have a great deal of talent to offer when it comes to a juicy part like this.

The film isn't brimming with action thankfully but it has a number of lengthy and exciting action sequences.

It seems to me that Baldwin is becoming something of the thinking mans action hero. Whilst Willis is off doing the brainless actioners Baldwin manages to get the intelligent movie. This is a fine example as is The Edge.

Baldwin makes this movie stunningly enjoyable and the supporting actors help a little but Baldwin manages to carry the whole thing single handedly.