Heaven's Prisoners is a modern noir from 1996 starring Alec Baldwin, Mary Stuart Masterson, Eric Roberts, Teri Hatcher, and Vondie Curtis-Hall. Set in New Orleans, it's the story of an ex-cop, Dave Robicheaux, who is now out of the force and runs a bait shop just outside the city.One day, while on a boat, they see a plane fall from the sky. Dave is able to save a child who was on board. They take her home with them, but when a DEA agent, Dautrieve, shows up, Dave becomes suspicious about who else was on the plane. He starts to investigate, which leads to trouble. He asks for help from a boyhood friend turned drug lord, Bubba Rocque (Roberts). Unfortunately, Dave doesn't foresee the hell that's coming.Alec Baldwin, young and handsome, does a terrific job as Dave; in his day, he was a fine leading man. Though he's now proved that he's adept at comedy, his dramatic work is excellent as well, as seen here. He portrays an angry, shattered alcoholic.The beginning of the film is especially good, showing the quiet beauty of Louisiana and showing Dave in profile at an AA meeting talking about being sober for three years and still wanting a drink. Mary Stuart Masterson is a wonderful actress; here, she's a blond stripper and creates a complete character. Someone on this board asked why she would take a nothing part. I suppose for her it was an opportunity to play something a little different (at least from what I've seen her do). During Lois & Clark, Teri Hatcher was given good parts in several films, but never developed a big film career. She's good here, though we really don't learn a lot about her character.Heaven's Prisoners is derivative and on the slow side, but it's atmospheric with good acting. At times, the plot is a little hard to follow; I also had a hard time understanding why Dave didn't take the danger seriously enough to either send his family away or keep a closer watch on his home.Good cast, nice production values.

Fans of Alec Baldwin and Eric Roberts would most likely get the most enjoyment out of this long and uneven film. There are problems for sure. One certainly would be the little girl who is saved from the crashed plane, appears to have zero bearing on the outcome, yet lots of time is devoted to scenes involving her. Second, the Southern accents seem to come and go, and are nothing but an annoyance. Characters appear and disappear sort of at random, and several are never really developed. This is not a bad film, just not a very well executed one. It is overlong, and lacks enough momentum to sustain interest for over two hours. - MERK

Heaven's Prisoners (1996) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Former New Orleans detective Dave Robicheaux is forced into retirement after accidentally killing three people. While all of this was going on Dave was also suffering from an alcohol problem, which nearly cost him his life. Two years after retirement he and his wife Annie (Kelly Lynch) move to the Bayou where they open up a bait shop and seem to be living the perfect life. One day while the couple are out on the Bayou a plane crashes nearby their boat. Dave grabs the scuba gear and goes to the sunken plane where he saves a young Mexican girl.Dave and Annie take the young girl to the hospital where they tell the officials that the child is there's and she was in a simple boating accident. The couple takes the young girl back to their place where they plan on raising her but one day Dave gets a visit from DEA officer. The officer informs Dave that the plane crash wasn't an accident but a murder plot, which Dave has messed up. For some unknown reason he goes to visit a former friend turned stripper (Mary Stuart Masterson) who in return leads him to another former friend turned gangster Bubba Rocque (Eric Roberts). Dave is also introduced to Bubba's former prostitute wife (Teri Hatcher) who seems to have plans outside of her husband's affairs. Not only this but we get another mob boss and three hit men all involved in this mystery, which must be solves by Dave so he can keep the child he rescued.Heaven's Prisoners is based on the novel by James Lee Burke and while I haven't read this I've heard it's a lot better than the actual movie. The film is an interesting mis-fire, which is so incredibly stupid that one will want to stick through the whole thing just to see how much dumber things can get. The plot is full of so many wholes it's really hard to know what the director or screenwriters were going for. At first it appears to be a political thriller and then we get a Charles Bronson wannabe side plot, which just adds to all the confusion. I mentioned a few of the characters involved in all of this but there are actually more that pop in and out of the movie.I knew the film was in a lot of trouble within the first ten minutes. After the plane crashes the couple leaves the accident with the child. Within minutes they are at the hospital where they tell everyone that this child is their daughter, although the kid doesn't speak a bit of English. The people in charge are stupid enough to buy all these excuses thrown at them but what I don't understand is why this couple would just take this girl. Perhaps had the screenplay shown them talking about it they could have convinced me but this doesn't happen. We go from a plane crash to them taking the child for no reason, which just leads to more mindless subplots.Alec Baldwin is an actor I've always enjoyed watching but this here has got to be the worst job in his career. This wannabe character drama is so badly acted by Baldwin that you can't help but laugh when the film is trying to make you feel sorry for him. We get a lot of scenes of him crying but It's so badly done we can't help but laugh. The tough guy cop attitude that Baldwin brings is also very laughable. Worst of all is that incredibly bad Southern accent, which goes in and out throughout the film. Eric Roberts gives a wonderful performance however and he's one of the few reasons to actually sit through this film. Teri Hatcher got a Razzie nomination for Worst Actress and I'm rather shocked she didn't win. Bad acting aside, her infamous full frontal nude scene is worth the price of a rental.Heaven's Prisoners is a very bad movie yet it thankfully gets laughable, which makes it easier to watch. Running over two hours the film certainly could have used some editing or a longer running time. There's just so many plot holes that I can't help but think the screenplay lost a few pages and the director simply forgot to film the scenes. Imagine reading a book yet only reading every other chapter. By the time you read the end of the book you'll have many unanswered questions and that's how the movie made me feel.

Disappointing film where an ex-alcoholic police officer leaves the force and begins life anew with his wife.Unfortunately, they witness a plane crash and rescue a small Spanish girl, the lone survivor. Go know that the pilot, along with flying in illegals, is also in the drug business.We don't know really why the drug people go after our hero. (Alec Baldwin) In the process, his wife is killed and the film becomes one of revenge and to determine who is behind all this mayhem.Eric Roberts plays Baldwin's friend, a gangster, who claims that he is innocent. Roberts has some wife who it is later revealed is behind much of what is going on.In the beginning of the film, Baldwin goes to confession to confess to the priest that he needs to start drinking again. That's before the story unfolds.Needless to say, the movie making this weak film may have needed a few drinks as well.