this <NEG> talky , terribly-plotted thriller </NEG> stars alec baldwin as dave robicheaux , an ex-new orleans cop who gets ensnared in a murder- mystery after a light-plane crashes into the bayou beside his fishing boat . he and his wife annie ( kelly lynch ) rescue a little salvadorian girl ( samantha lagpacan ) from the wreckage and that's when the trouble begins . the other major players include a local drug lord ( eric roberts ) , his scheming wife ( teri hatcher ) , a soused stripper ( mary stuart masterson ) , and a shady dea agent ( vondie curtis hall ) . everyone knows everyone else and it makes for a collective that's curious but <NEG> never compelling </NEG> . based on the book by james lee burke , heaven's prisoners is <NEG> so badly plotted that entire * scenes * seem to be missing </NEG> . early on , we have no idea of why dave and annie keep the child to themselves . nor how they eluded both the coast guard and the faa . later , dave is reunited with a drug-abuser who appears seemingly clean and sober and <NEG> without any explanation </NEG> . huh ? the whole movie is like this , perhaps the result of some unkind cuts that happened during the eighteen months that the film sat on the shelf . whatever the reason , somebody should tell director phil joanou ( final analysis ) to <NEG> recut this mess </NEG> . in its present form , heaven's prisoners runs only two hours plus change , but it feels like four .
