Cold Heaven Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		3.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.0

Cold Heaven Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf September 30, 2020

While a respected filmmaker, Nicolas Roeg certainly struggled in the 1980s and ‘90s to match his impressive run of features in the 1970s. There was “Walkabout,” “Don’t Look Now,” and “The Man Who Fell to Earth.” These were challenging, enigmatic pictures that cemented his reputation as a helmer searching for artful ways to explore the human condition. A year after his unlikely employment at the director of “The Witches,” Roeg tries to reconnect with his heyday for 1991’s “Cold Heaven.” An adaptation of a novel by Brian Moore, Roeg returns to the mysterious ways of life and death, reviving “Don’t Look Now” ideas to keep viewers unsettled as he mounts a mix of horror and religion. Well past his prime, the blend of Christian suffering and mystery eludes Roeg’s control this time around, as “Cold Heaven” doesn’t connect in any profound way, often caught struggling to sell its elusiveness without providing a proper reward for such attention.

Marie (Theresa Russell) is having an affair with Daniel (James Russo), with the pair sneaking off to hotel rooms to satisfy their lust, which has developed into love for the couple as they try to remain secretive about their relationship. Daniel is ready to leave his wife, Anna (Julie Carmen), for Marie, hoping to make things permanent. Marie is caught in a more difficult situation, unable to abandon her spouse, Alex (Mark Harmon), a respected doctor. When they go on vacation to Acapulco, Marie prepares to announce her intent to leave, only to watch Alex get hit by a boat, suffering a major head injury. When Alex is pronounced dead by Mexican doctors, Marie is overwhelmed by feelings of guilt, returning home to California to deal with her pain. Electing to meet with Daniel in a Carmel-by-the-sea hotel room, Marie is shocked to find Alex alive, but in bad shape. Believing he was murdered, Alex keeps his distance from Marie, who also deals with visions of the Virgin Mary, who returns with a request for the overwhelmed woman to build a sanctuary near a local church co-managed by Father Niles (Will Patton) and Sister Martha (Talia Shire).

The set-up for “Cold Heaven” successfully pulls viewers into the issues facing Marie. She’s making a choice to take on a lover in Daniel, and we understand their dynamic during post coital time in an airport hotel room, watching them be affectionate and tease the idea of turning something periodic into a permanent situation. Marie is open to the idea, but she can’t bring herself to sever her marriage, attempting to screw up the courage during a trip to Mexico, where Alex leaves their paddleboat to use the restroom. He doesn’t make it to shore, soon hit by a distracted driver on a speeding boat, leaving him with a head injury that quickly kills him. Marie is soon overtaken by the voices in her head, reinforcing the horror of what just happened with the emotional devastation she was about to create by leaving Alex, suddenly introduced to the enormity of her actions.

The first act of “Cold Heaven” is the highlight of the film, mostly because Roeg introduces the situation brewing within Marie with distinct Hitchcockian touches, building suspense through the character’s obsessiveness as she repeatedly files through her sins. The reappearance of Alex is an ideal plot turn, but the screenplay quickly runs out of gas, settling into a routine of argumentative characters dealing with one another in Carmel hotel rooms. Is Alex really alive, or he is just a grotesque manifestation of Marie’s guilt? It’s a potential direction for the plot Roeg doesn’t pursue, electing to make the arrival quite literal, putting the wife into contact with an ailing man who accuses Marie of having him murdered. All the tension in the movie just disappears once it’s made clear others can see Alex, while there isn’t a player in this game that remarks on the near impossibly of a bleeding, dying man making his way from Acapulco to Carmel without being questioned.

There should be an unreality to “Cold Heaven,” but Roeg keeps it at arm’s length, focusing on the religious aspects of the story, which follow Marie to a special cliffside area where she experiences a vision and doesn’t know what to do with it. To make things even more complicated, Sister Martha has visions of Marie’s visions, connecting the church to an adulterous woman who believes she has a greater purpose concerning the construction of a sanctuary, putting Father Niles on the case. Roeg struggles mightily to translate Moore’s ideas to the screen, but his energy just isn’t there, giving limited attention to Marie’s connection to heavenly might, and there’s a half-realized idea involving butterfly imagery that requires more screen time to understand. “Cold Heaven” gets confusing, forcing Roeg to start clarifying a few ideas to find a workable climax. Unfortunately, he’s unsuccessful, fumbling to connect Marie’s mistakes to Alex’s health, while poor Daniel becomes a prop in the last act, and Anna is completely ignored despite an introduction that establishes her a vital participant in this mess.

Cold Heaven Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

An obscure pull from the MGM catalog, "Cold Heaven" comes to Blu-ray with an AVC encoded image (1.85:1 aspect ratio) presentation. Age is apparent, offering a soft viewing experience, but colors are decent with costuming and hotel décor. Outdoor activity is more distinct, presenting golden sunlight, blue skies, and greenery. Skintones are appropriate, including the bloodless makeup work on Harmon. Fine detail isn't strong, but dimension with cliffside distances and Mexican waters is passable. Delineation is satisfactory. Grain is chunky, and artifacting is periodic, going blocky with smoke elements. Source has some wear and tear, with speckling and large chunks of debris common throughout.

Cold Heaven Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 2.0 DTS-HD MA mix presents appealing instrumentation with scoring cues, which include warm orchestral sounds and inappropriate stretches of hot sax. Music is balanced well with dialogue exchanges, which retain their dramatic urgency, handling argumentative behavior and panic without distortive highs. Roeg's use of aural layering to communicate Marie's whirring mind is effective and clear. Atmospherics deliver hospital bustle and open water activity.

Cold Heaven Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• A Theatrical Trailer (1:22, HD) is included.

Cold Heaven Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

"Cold Heaven" has some potentially interesting ideas on the nature of marital commitments, offering a torturous psychological ride for Marie as she prioritizes the men in her life, grasping mistakes and the potential for peace. Not helping the cause is casting, as Russell (Roeg's wife at the time) doesn't have the range for such an arduous part, unable to present the audience with an understanding of motivation. Harmon is equally miscast as Alex, not built for this type of thespian impact, coming up short when selling the character's life and death battle. Perhaps the picture was hurt in the editing room, but it's more likely Roeg didn't have a real game plan for this journey into remorse and paranoia, trusting some old acts of ambiguity and symbolism might be enough to inspire a deeper look at the particulars of "Cold Heaven." Sadly, the director never gets below the surface of the drama.