Heaven's Prisoners

Heaven's Prisoners is an adaptation of one of several James Lee Burke crime novels centred on the stubborn policeman Dave Robicheaux. In Heaven's Prisoners Dave has retired from the force because of a rather unfortunate episode, but when a plane mysteriously crashes in the Louisiana swamps, he still cannot resist getting involved. Dave and his wife Annie are near the crash site, so Dave manages to save a little girl who turns out to be a refugee. Annie and Dave take the girl in and call her Alafair, but they fear for her safety because of the strange circumstances.

Dave soon gets wind of some shady dealings in New Orleans gangster circles, where his old classmate Bubba is one of the big shots. Dave receives several heavy-handed warnings not to interfere, but he stubbornly carries on.

The plot threads are reasonably intricate in Heaven's Prisoners, which entertains well and traditionally without any great innovations. Alec Baldwin is actually quite convincing as the honest cop.