Murder and Malaise in ‘Prisoners’

Way down yonder in New Orleans, things tend to get a might overheated. Tennessee Williams taught us that and so has James Lee Burke, whose ex-drinking ex-cop Dave Robicheaux has become something of a cult object thanks to Burke’s way with character and his unexalted view of the human condition.

In Phil Joanou’s version of Burke’s early novel “Heaven’s Prisoners,” we get the murder and the Spanish-mossy malaise but little of the interior life of Robicheaux, who as portrayed by Alec Baldwin comes off less like a guy who could give “major migraines” to Crescent City wise guys (in the words of one) and more like a fellow who spends his Saturdays shopping for shrubberies.

Joanou, who showed a talent for mixing violence and mood in “State of Grace,” starts out well. We first see Robicheaux in semidarkness--he’s in a confessional, it turns out--telling his priest, “I want to drink. . . . I want to drink all the time. . . .” We meet his demons before we meet him, which is a pretty strong first impression.

But despite Joanou’s flair for atmospherics, the script by Scott Frank (“Get Shorty”) and Harley Peyton (“Twin Peaks”) doesn’t maintain any real tension, the scenes are adequate but unconnected to one another and Baldwin, who optioned the book and is one of the film’s executive producers, lacks the animal grace and cunning one wants from Robicheaux--who’s never been James Bond but should at least be able to get out of his own way.

There’s a pronounced lack of intensity in Baldwin’s performance. “Jesus,” Robicheaux says when, while boating on the bayou with his wife, Annie (Kelly Lynch), a small plane crashes nearby. From his reaction, you’d think someone had just backed over his lawn jockey.

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From that plane--which turns out to be a time bomb--he rescues a young girl (Samantha Lagpacan), whom he and Annie immediately adopt and name Alafair (the New Orleans department of social services apparently showing preference to alcoholic ex-cops) and life immediately gets complicated. A DEA agent named Minos Dautrieve (the playfully menacing Vondi Curtis Hall) shows up to dissuade Robicheaux from investigating the plane, which was carrying illegal immigrants from El Salvador plus a DEA informant. Why would Dautrieve assume that Robicheaux would meddle? We don’t know, but he does, getting hip-deep in mob violence, getting regularly beaten up and bringing death and violence into his home. And we’re never quite sure he’s right.

And that’s because we don’t get inside Robicheaux. Baldwin can act--”Miami Blues” and his 30-second diatribe in “Glengarry Glen Ross” have proved that--but doesn’t have to very often or very strenuously and he certainly isn’t pushed by Joanou to flesh Robicheaux out (in a matter of speaking). Of course, it’s tough for any employee to tell the boss he’s not working hard enough.

Mary Stuart Masterson, of whom enough is never seen, is Robin Gaddis, an old friend of Robicheaux’s who at first resembles Madeleine Kahn in “Blazing Saddles” but then settles into a nice groove as the whore with the heart of gold and future romantic interest for Robicheaux. Most in spirit with the locale and the luridness of the story, though, are Eric Roberts and Teri Hatcher, who as the unsavory and vaguely villainous Bubba and Claudette Rocque are the only ones who seem aware of whom they’re supposed to be and where.

* MPAA rating: R, for strong violence and language, and for some nudity. Times guidelines: gratuitous nudity and shameless violence.

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‘Heaven’s Prisoners’

Alec Baldwin: Dave Robicheaux

Kelly Lynch: Annie Robicheaux

Mary Stuart Masterson: Robin Gaddis

Eric Roberts: Bubba Rocque

Teri Hatcher: Claudette Rocque

Minos Dautrieve: Vondi Curtis Hall

Alafair: Samantha Lagpacan

A Ruddy-Morgan production, released by New Line and Savoy Pictures. Director Phil Joanou. Producers Albert S. Ruddy, Andre E. Morgan, Leslie Greif. Screenplay by Harley Peyton and Scott Frank. Cinematographer Harris Savides. Editor William Steinkamp. Costumes Aude Bronson-Howard. Music George Fenton. Production design John Stoddart. Art director Monroe Kelly. Running time: 2 hours 12 minutes.

* In general release throughout Southern California.