Cold Heaven

Stars: Theresa Russell (Whore, Impulse, Black Widow), Mark Harmon (The Presidio, Stealing Home), James Russo (My Own Private Idaho, A Kiss Before Dying), Talia Shire (Rocky, The Godfather). While vacationing in Mexico, Marie Davenport (Theresa Russell) makes plans to tell her M.D. husband Alex (Mark Harmon) that she's seeing another doctor (not as a patient) and would like to cut the cord, matrimonially speaking. But before she gets the chance, Alex is struck by a boat in a freak swimming accident. Pronounced dead, Alex shows up later rather alive. Except for a nasty head wound, a truly ghastly white complexion, and no pulse, he's mostly just confused and frightened...and he suspects that Marie is having an affair (in our opinion, the missing pulse would take precedence over the hanky panky, but logic is not this movie's strong suit.) About this time you're disbelief is so suspended it rivals the Golden Gate Bridge, and if the gap between reality and fantasy increases by even a silly millimeter the whole thing's going to come crashing down. That's when Marie goes and tells the local priest about a vision she had at this motel...a vision in which the Virgin Mary told her to tell the priest to "rebuild the sanctuary." Based on Brian Moore's (Black Robe) novel, Cold Heaven is actually a deeply religious story about the sanctity of marriage. It fails as a film because: a) the pacing of the story is way off, and b) neither Russell nor Harmon are equal to the psychologically complex roles of Marie and Alex Davenport. As a woman torn between temptation and love, the convincing portrayal of Marie is the hinge upon which the whole story hangs--in Russell's version, however, Marie is basically a spoiled little whiner. Audience: The supernaturally-themed box cover art will certainly appeal to those looking for horror, but most will be disappointed by this religious thriller which takes too long to develop.