Perfect cast and a good story

People are voting emotionally.

Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

German screenwriter and director Tom Tykwer's fifth feature film which was written by Polish filmmaker and screenwriter Krzysztof Kieslowski (1941-1996) and Polish screenwriter Krzysztof Piesiewicz, is based on their trilogy "Heaven, Hell and Purgatory". It premiered In competition at the 52nd Berlin International Film Festival in 2002, was screened in the Special Presentations section at the 27th Toronto International Film Festival in 2002, was shot on locations in Italy, England and Germany and is a USA-Germany co-production which was produced by producers Stefan Arndt, Frédérique Dumas, Maria Köpf, Anthony Minghella and William Rorberg. It tells the story about a schoolteacher named Philippa Paccard who is arrested after having placed a bomb in an office building in Turin, Italy. During interrogation, she learns that four innocent people were killed in the bombing and that she is believed to be a member of a terrorist organization.Subtly and precisely directed by German filmmaker Tom Tykwer, this finely tuned fictional tale which is narrated from the two main characters viewpoints, draws an eloquent portrayal of a young Italian policeman who falls in love and begins sympathizing with an imprisoned English woman. While notable for it's naturalistic milieu depictions, sterling production design by production designer Uli Hanisch, cinematography by German cinematographer Frank Griebe and use of music, this character-driven and noir-like drama depicts two charming studies of character.This modestly romantic, atmospheric and at times humorous thriller which is set in the city of Torino and in the medieval renaissance hill town of Montepulciano in Italy, is impelled and reinforced by it's cogent narrative structure, endearing characters and the likewise acting performances by American actor Giovanni Ribisi and Australian actress Cate Blanchett. A quiet, imaginative and graceful love-story from the early 2000s.

I am not a fan of fake computer visuals although they have gotten so good they are almost hard to spot any more (hint no tree moves its leaves that artistically in a breeze). This film uses them extensively. The problem is they are too perfect and lack the flaws and clutter of reality so after awhile you are subconsciously bothered by them. At first they look fantastically good too good--they eventually become annoying and distracting after you figure out they are animation.Then there was a problem with the story. A school teacher makes a sophisticated bomb? Unlikely. Then a police interpreter stenographer arranges her escape from a maximum security jail. Pretty lax these Italian prisons.Then the actors themselves...the female lead gets on your nerves after awhile---the male lead actor gets on your nerves right away. Oh by the way her name is Phillipa and the police interpreter is Filipo... Reminded me of the magic flute...Dial a miss for this one--fake high tech visuals and all.

This movie is ironically entitled Heaven. Phillipa(Blanchett) goes through literally Hell, through the entire movie. Perhaps the only moments of hope she has, are those alongside to Filippo (Ribisi). And it's as if she "learns" to love him back for everything he does for her throughout the movie.The movie is very slow paced. Not a lot happens, and even minutes after the first half the main plot hasn't resolved yet. This can work on either way... as a suspense-builder or make it a boring movie.The soundtrack, the scenery and the directing are amazing. It's just fitting. Blanchett as usual is perfect, but for some reason, this just doesn't strike me as a role for her. Ribisi, who speaks flawless Italian, proves he can also be the leading man. Again, like most of his characters, there is a hidden, kind of obssessive force that gets him doing things, but that's the beauty of his character here. No one knows how or why, but he falls for Blanchett's character and goes to great pains to help her. An unusual love story.

Heaven had almost all the ingredients to make a great film; A good cast, Cate Blanchett giving a superb performance, and some beautiful cinematography. But the plot which is arguably the most important item on the list was one of the most unconvincing, ill thought out stories I've ever seen on film.*spoilers*In order to accept the story and follow it you have to accept the two main characters, who are both reprehensible. Philippa murdered 4 innocent people because of her ill thought out, cowardly assassination attempt on a drug dealer. We the viewer are supposed to let this slide because: a.) She didn't mean to, and b.) This drug dealer indirectly caused the deaths of 2 people close to her.Filippo falls for her, and decides to help her break out of custody. He has a bit of an excuse in getting her free, he knows that people high up in the police establishment are complicit in covering up the actions of the drug dealer that Phillipa was trying to expose.That is he could be excused if he broke her out of custody in order to uncover the truth about the crocked cops. That's not what happens, he falls pathetically in love with her at first sight, and devotes himself to keeping her away from the police for his own selfish reasons.Phillipa states that she will answer for her actions, she just wants to murder that evil drug dealer. Filippo dutifully obliges with her wish and assists her in murdering the dealer. At which point Phillipa should now turn herself in, if she has one shred of integrity. She doesn't, they both continue to run from the police.Filippo's father; Remo, is equally unbelievable. Police officer all his life and head of the police constabulary in Rome accepts his sons choice for aiding and fleeing with a fugitive because he is "in love". He even provides them with a chunk of money and offers to help them escape.The final scene is hardly worth explaining; the police tighten the net around the duo and they again seemingly escape to yet another slow motion piano scored scene. I didn't mention the score - it's poor, the excessive piano used in every scene just drags on to monotony.