Dave from Ottawa The tens of millions lost by this box office bust set back the careers of stars Alec Baldwin, Eric Roberts and Teri Hatcher a few years, but also proved that if you are going to make a crime thriller, it helps to put in a few actual thrills, or maybe come up with a plot that makes some sense. The story probably worked in its first draft, but the meandering, almost random string of events in the movie give the impression of a script that underwent too many re-writes. Plus, it's filled with unsavory types who all seem to be running some twisted game, but instead of combining these threads together the script just lets them hang. The viewer spends too much time trying to recall who is up to what and then when nothing comes of it all, gives up interest. The movie also tries early on for a hothouse Southern Gothic atmosphere, but fails to generate it, thanks to too much time wasted on Eric Roberts' character's boxing obsession, and the fact that Hatcher's femme fatale act is played out too sparingly and seems unrelated to anything until it's too late for the audience to care. Baldwin's central performance is not very interesting and it is never clear whether we should sympathize with him or just hang around waiting to see if he gets whacked. Kelly Lynch is apparently in the movie too, but her character seems superfluous and sketchy, as if her part was at some point cut way down. The result is an incomplete performance that again fails to generate much interest. This pretty much sums up the movie. An attractive cast of good actors hang around expensive southern plantation sets posturing with one another and it all just fails to go anywhere. No wonder it flopped. It's not awful, but nothing here really works at all.

john-malson The character of Dave Robicheaux would have been a fascinating one to follow in follow-up features, which is what Alex Baldwin at one time had in mind. But to date, Heaven's Prisoners is the only one made. Having read the James Lee Burke novels, there were a tremendous opportunity to have seen the New Orleans underworld in a way that had both an eerie attraction and a noir aspect that could have translated into a very powerful set of features. There is still something there that could be tapped, because a setting in the Crescent City is a natural for this type of movie. Heaven's Prisoners just scratched the surface. It certainly helped having one of my favorite nasty guys playing Bubba Rocque, in Eric Roberts, and Teri Hatcher showing off her butterfly, pre-Desperate Housewives. But then, Burke's novels have some of the weirdest evil-doers twisting Robicheaus every which way and Prisoners had its share. Makes for a great show.

LeMond The movie is in my opinion not worth seeing if you're not a fan of the beautiful actress Teri Hatcher. The highlight of the movie is undoubtedly the scene where she stands completely nude on a balcony and shows us viewers a good view of her very lovely breasts. If you look very closely you can also see her pubic hair and a very pretty ass through the railing as she turns and walks away. Thanks for that very special moment,Teri! She has of course other scenes in the movie but none of them leave a very lasting impression. Without the nude scene I would probably rate this movie a 5 but because of Teri's body I'll give it a 9.

bheyer This movie goes absolutely NOWHERE, and it takes its sweet time getting there. All of the characters talk like they just left a Humphrey Bogart/Dashiell Hammett/Raymond Chandler film noir picture from the '40's, only highlighted with Cajun accents, instead. Lotsa' veiled threats; I mean EVERY cliché in the book, and then some. Star, Alec Baldwin, is horribly miscast, and runs the acting gamut from "A" to "B." Dennis Quaid, who starred in the earlier, and FAR superior, "The Big Easy," would've made a much better choice for leading man. Alas, we're STUCK with one of the acting-challenged Baldwin Brothers. Poor us! Some of the other posters on this thread made mention of "bloopers." Well, I didn't see them, woe is me. If I had known about them, earlier, I'm sure they would've provided me with some impetus to stay with this "yawner" without dozing-off, from time-to-time. As it is, if you miss Teri Hatcher's ("Desperate Housewives") EXQUISITE nude scene near the beginning of the film, you really have nothing to stick around for. If I had a choice to make, either watch THIS movie, OR the aforementioned "The Big Easy," I'd go with the latter film, EVERY day of the week, and TWICE on Sunday! Again, to be seen ONLY for Teri Hatcher's full-frontal (the collar matches the cuff!) nude scene.