Somewhere between foreign and not, 2005’s A Little Trip to Heaven is one of those
interesting independent movies that must have come together in a blur of
hastily tendered offers, short “windows” for actors, and bizarre coincidence. Directed
by erstwhile actor Baltasar Kormákur (101
Reykjavik), from a screenplay co-written with Edward Weinman, the Iceland-shot
movie is perhaps most notable for featuring Forest Whitaker, fresh off his
Oscar victory for The Last King of Scotland, which is
no doubt why it’s finally seeing a decently pushed DVD Stateside release.
accent) is investigating the suspicious death of the driver of a burned-out
car. Dispatched by his pitiless boss Frank (Peter Coyote), Holt has to work out
whether the dead man, a con man with a criminal record, could possibly have
been the victim of an attempt to swindle the insurance company. When he meets
Isolde (Julia Stiles), the dead man’s sister, Holt slowly begins to lose his
professional distance, but becomes suspicious of her inscrutable husband Fred (Jeremy
Renner). Against the backdrop of a hostile, endless and harsh
winter, the characters reveal themselves to be multi-layered, involved in a
curious yet balanced plot. In the end Holt must decide if doing the right thing
is worth the price of doing something very, very wrong.
Heaven moves in slow-motion, carefully plotted, feet-through-the-snow steps,
and either benefits or suffers — depending on your familiarity with his
catalogue — from Renner’s previous experience with white trash antagonists. The
movie features cinematography of gorgeous disrepair, though its gloomy tone will
really appeal only to up-market arthouse audiences for whom literary-plotted comeuppance
is its own cinematic reward. If some of the inter-familial twists, then, are a
bit self-satisfied, many of the character details — like penny-pinching actuary
Abe asking for a receipt at a local dive restaurant — bring the material a nice
sense of proportion and full-bodiedness. I wish I could say Whitaker’s
performance had more of a natural pull, though; as is, it just feels like an
impulsive half-sketch. His accent comes and goes, and his burgeoning affinity and
sense of protection for Isolde hinges too much, and in late-developing fashion,
on her young son Thor (Alfred Harmsworth).
Heaven is presented with a Dolby digital 5.1 audio mix, alongside optional English
and Spanish subtitles. Alongside the cursory bonus inclusions of trailers for
this movie and other First Look releases is a so-so collection of behind-the-scenes
material. First up are 16 minutes worth of deleted and extended scenes,
including the movie’s original opening, which involves two characters plunging
off a cliff in a staged accident (portions of this footage are incorporated
into the finished product, so this gives away nothing). A 12-minute making-of
featurette includes interviews with cast and crew, and also reveals the Icelandic
word for actor, which is “leikari,” for what it’s worth. C+ (Movie) C+ (Disc)
