Heaven (1999)

Well Deserved Praise

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

There's a good chance the film will make you laugh out loud, but if it doesn't, there's an even better chance it will make you openly sob.

There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

I liked this movie quite a lot. The chopped-up plotline was a little annoying sometimes, but it was quite effective. Small things like intersplicing the phone call between the husband and wife with the phone call between the wife and psychologist.The acting was quite good. Heaven, the transvestite, is this huge guy but somehow he comes off as being feminine and almost delicate. The big exception in the acting department is Martin Donovan. Several posters here thought he was good. In my opinion, he was almost bad enough to ruin the entire film! He is as wooden as a soap opera actor, and his timing is some of the worst I've ever seen. Differences in opinions, I guess.This movie is well worth watching. A trip to the dark side of town, of obsessions, of addictions (gambling) and the human mind. Dark? yes. Entertaining? Also yes.8 stars

This film, shown at both the Montreal and Toronto film festivals, isso original that its merits passed over the heads of the busyreviewers.Scott Reynolds uses a very clever device to allow the viewer tosuspend disbelief that one of the characters could accuratelyforetell the future. Heaven, the seer, is a transvestite stripper in aregular strip club. The viewer focuses on this improbability andlets the improbability that someone can foresee the future slip intothe film's reality.Having created a believable character that can and does foretellthe future, Reynolds is then faced with another problem. How tokeep the viewer from knowing the future. He accomplishes thiswith a series of carefully staged flashbacks (and flash forwards)that, although accurate, are out of sequence and therefore lead theviewer to believe in a series of events that is not accurate.I have never seen a more cleverly thought up, worked out andexecuted script.With his plan in place, Reynolds creates one of the mostimprobable plots imaginable, but because we have moved beyondsuspending disbelief and become believers, one that seems veryprobable.Richard Schiff superbly portrays the character of the strip clubowner, Stanner. Stanner has hired Heaven and brought him/herunder his wing because he has turned Heaven's ability to foretellthe future into profits. Stanner, however, is also involved withRobert Marling, played by Martin Donovan (II). I would continue tosay superbly, but the fact is, the acting in the film is first rate allaround.Marling is going through a bitter divorce with the stunning JoannaGoing as Jennifer Marling. Jennifer is seeing the sleazypsychiatrist Dr. Melrose played by Patrick Malahide.And in the pivotal coincidence, Heaven is also seeing theunbelievably evil (but nonetheless believable) Dr. Melrosebecause Heaven's visions of the future trouble him/her deeply (thevisions, not the sexual ambiguity).Marling is a down and out gambling addict, an architect who isdesigning a new club Stanner has commissioned with themillions he has earned from following Heaven's visions of thefuture. Marling is forever losing money to Stanner in poker games.Heaven sets the plot in motion by foreseeing Marling saving himfrom being viciously murdered by two sadistic thugs. Heaven setsout to reward Marling by using his/her foretelling abilities to feedMarling information on how the cards will fall in his poker handswith Stanner.Evil Dr. Melrose discovers this in his sessions with Heaven. Heseduces Jennifer. Advising her on her divorce settlement, the baddoctor tells Jennifer to hold out for the fortune her husband isabout to come into as a result of Heaven's foretelling, intending totake the fortune for himself.Stanner has plenty of cash but can't resist playing the angles, deciding to burn down his club to make way for the new onedesigned by Marling. He hires two homicidal maniacs to do thetask for him, the same two sadists Heaven foresees murderinghim, and it is these two who initiate the mass slaughter thatmakes the film so violent.This film is a sleeper. It will be discovered, its clever featurescopied and it will become a classic. Scott Reynolds does not havea large body of work, but any director or writer would be proud tohave this film to their credit.

New Zealand director Scott Reynolds has a flair for getting into viewers heads while they watch, and this was very apparent in his previous film, The Ugly. Time seems to be a force in this film as well, by playing with the sequence of events, going forward and back. Fortunately, we seem to understand what happens (like the constant time playing in the film Siesta), and become more involved with what is happening to the characters. Gambling addictions, child custody, seedy strip joints, and even a psychic all weave a fascinating situation that could help or destroy all involved. Despite its rough nature, it still manages to be a very satisfying experience. One you will tell friends you have to see to believe. It does deserve notice as a unique film and hopefully word of mouth will help get this film the recognition it deserves.

I took a chance on this rental, and was so glad I did. It literally, 'kept me on the edge of my seat' throughout the entire film. The writing and direction is so well done, that I felt like 'I' was the one having the psychic flashes. The acting was also very good. I felt so much for the character, Heaven. If all thrillers were this inventive, I'd have a new favorite genre.