1/5 Only worth it to watch Urban
  by
I saw this so I could watch Karl Urban, a very talented New Zealand actor. But it really wasn't worth the time spent. The movie relied too much on violence and shock to get its point across, and you get treated to a few scenes replayed over and over and over again. The plot was hard to follow, and the whole thing just seemed unlikely, especially as the characters had a range of accents, from American to Kiwi (New Zealand) One of the things that bothered me the most is that I wasn't able to figure out where the film was supposed to be taking place. On the other hand, Martin Donovan was more than interesting, and I'd be interested in seeing some of his other films.

4/5 I rarely give 5's
  by Richard H. White (hilton head island, s.c.)
'Heaven' reminds me of the best parts of 'The Cook The Thief His Wife and Her Lover' combined with the cinematography of anything out of the best of Antonioni...add to the mix a narrative as creative and compelling as 'Memento' and this is a 4 1/2 star film...by my rating a 5 is a film for all time (e.g. Cassablanca) 'Heaven' may well hold up in time; but, it is at least as good as anything in the last 10 years.

4/5 Richard Schiff fans get this!
  by amytych (Rockville, MD USA)
If you are a Richard Schiff fan, you have to get this movie and you won't be sorry if you do. The character (Stanner) he plays in this movie is so opposite of his performance as Toby Ziegler on ``West Wing'' that you have to see it to believe it! Stanner is both despicable and immensely enjoyable to watch.

Stanner is the owner of a transvestite strip joint and he's not very good to his ``girls.'' One of his dancers, who calls herself Heaven, can see flashes of the future. She helps Stanner win his poker games but eventually turns on him when a friend of his, played my Martin Donovan, helps her. She gives Martin the knowledge he needs to win a big game.

The movie is very violent and has lots of backstabbing and double crossing going on. Still, it's fascinating to watch.

Richard Schiff, as Stanner, chuckles constantly but he seems to be the only one who gets the joke. He can also be unbelievably cruel and twisted. Richard's performance is amazing to watch. There's a great scene where he tells Martin's character about the plot of a movie he thinks should be made. It's called ``Chairman of the Board'' and his description is priceless.

If you can handle the violence, the movie is well worth the price.

4/5 Violent But Very Good
  by carol irvin (United States)
There are a lot of violent characters that commit some very violent acts in this film, including rape, arson, murder and kidnapping. I mention this first because many filmgoers have limited tolerance for this much violence. It is a New Zealand film so the violence didn't surprise me. The films I've seen from that country have all been very violent. Nonetheless, the film has a very good plot involving a transsexual, a man who should have been born a woman, named Heaven, who can see the future, mostly when she is not conscious. She and the other lead character, a compulsive gambler played by Martin Donovan, are two people who live on the fringes of society and are perpetually victimized. They come to each other's aid in the movie in very inventive fashions, including Heaven's being able to see a certain card game unfold. There are lots of time shifts that are potentially confusing in watching the plot unfold. You will either find them vexing or inventive. I found them inventive and was not confused. All in all, I thought it was very good.

2/5 Isn't that the Hal Hartley guy?
  by Dan Balogh (New Jersey, USA)
A divorced architect (Martin Donovan), while designing a strip club for a sleazy client (Richard Schiff), gets involved in a seedy underworld which includes a transvestite stripper with extra sensory perception, a strip club's bouncer called "The Sweeper," and two sadistic thugs the client hires for a nefarious deed. If that wasn't enough, the architect's "normal" life is populated with a vindictive wife, a perverted psychiatrist and a betraying family lawyer.

Slick, well-made thriller which curiously (for reasons I can't quite place) feels more like a sophisticated made-for-TV film than a theatrical release. Though produced in 1998, this latest film from New Zealand director Scott Reynolds had a very limited run in the states in 1999. It's a pity because the film probably would have found an audience.

It relies a bit too much on flash-forwards and flash-backs as the inventive building block for telling its story and the device grows somewhat tiresome before the end. And if you look hard enough, you may even notice that hidden inside the slickness of the execution is a pretty conventional thriller, but with a prescient transvestite thrown in for good measure. It's definitely worth a look.