User reviews

This was an intriguing, although not satisfying,, movie and one I still felt was worth my few bucks I paid to rent it.

It was filmed in Iceland - one of the few films I've heard of with that locale - but the story in the film takes place somewhere in Midwestern America. I knew that going in, so it made it kind of strange to view, in that respect. However, the story seemed very realistic. In parts, it almost felt like a documentary, it was so real and atmospheric.

However, as much as I enjoyed the movie, and particularly Forest Whitaker with his odd accent, the ending was a big disappointment. The film had so much promise up until then.

Some people say this film had the feel of a Coen Brothers movie, and I agree with that. To some, this might also have been a bit slow or boring but I thought it had unique atmosphere to it. With a more satisfying ending, I would have bought the DVD and watched it several more times.

After a suspicious fatal car accident in Hastings where the identity of the victim was forged, the Quality Life insurance company sends their smart investigator Abe Holt (Forrest Whitaker) to identify the body. The unique beneficiary of the one million dollars death benefit is the sister of the victim, Isold (Julia Stiles), who lives with her son Thor and her husband Fred (Jeremy Renner) in a poor cabin in the middle of nowhere. Along the investigation, Abe discloses the truth about the fraud, but feels sorry for Isold and Thor and tries to help them with tragic consequences.

"Little Trip to Heaven" has a good premise, showing both sides of the insurance policies, with some fraudulent cases of clients and questionable procedures of the companies themselves. The story is good, with a suspenseful atmosphere in a dramatic and tense situation. In spite of the very disappointing conclusion, this movie worth watching. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "A Fraude" ("The Fraud")

i have to say that this was a well acted, very well directed little offering, i would like to have seen more of Peter Coyote as i thought he portrayed the part of the Investigator with relish, and seemed to revel in ensuring people did not receive their full benefits. the whole feel to the film was dark, brooding and you always felt that things could not get any worse for Mr. Renner & Ms. Stiles, but it did. i suppose people will feel this is to dark for their tastes, but these are the dramas that make compelling viewing. Forest Whitaker does a good job and displays a determination to resolve the case that if were true to life, with the income he displayed within his character, i am not sure would be there?

i notice a lot of 10/10's for this movie and think this is unwarranted, but having said that this was a worthwhile effort and should be seen.

This film received mixed reviews from critics and viewers alike, some embracing its "arty" and ambiguous sensibilities, while others were displeased with it's disconnection and aloofness. As for me, I find myself edging towards the former group as as certain this as being a rather interesting, intriguing, and fascinating film, albeit flawed.

The visuals are certainly the film's strongest aspect, with its moody lighting, saturated colors, bleak landscapes, and striking camera movements that are all hypnotic and mesmerizing. All of these elements accumulate into a despairing viewing of existentialism and fate - a character stands in a field and sees everything around him, but each direction he faces is the same dreary and gloomy destination.

The acting is also superb from the entire cast, with Whitaker providing a unique accent that adds to the quirkiness of his character. Stiles is actually quite good here as well, giving one of her best performances. Last, but not least, is the criminally underrated Jeremy Renner, who gives a reliable performance as always.

I was nervous after hearing talk of the plot's ambiguity and unsatisfactory nature, but I can happily say that it is fairly solid. The narrative has a strong sense of mystery, with even some plot twists to peak the viewer's interest. The pacing is, admittedly, glacially slow and this will indeed test the patience and attention-span of its viewer (despite being only 87 minutes long). In addition, I wouldn't say the plot was anything original, but it is involving due to its characters and the sense that there's something more lurking underneath the surface.

Those who enjoy character studies and mystery films may enjoy this hybrid of the two genres, which isn't a complete success but is executed in a very effective manner.

More contemplative than thrilling, this gets under the skin more than those adrenaline-pumping, yet hollow, thrillers studios are churching out now-a-days.

Solid Recommendation.

A great cast does what it can with ludicrous details.

The most intriguing aspect of this story is that the audience is constantly in search of a hero or victim, but all of the characters are villains, to varying degrees.

The real problem is the basic premise. It would have been nice if the writers would have actually done some research instead of making up ridiculous lies about the insurance industry.

For starters, attempting to deny or reduce legitimate claim payments is a practice called Unfair Claims Practices, and is prohibited in all states. Secondly, no insurance company would issue a life insurance policy to a known con man, especially for $1 million. (And you can not blame it on a particular office - all policies go through a central underwriting department at the main office.) Thirdly, once a life insurance policy has been in force for 2 years, it becomes incontestable. The only thing that would cause an investigation is if there is a question of the deceased's identity, or there is an accidental death benefit that might not be an accident. Furthermore, insurance fraudsters are notorious for NOT self-inflicting real damage to themselves. Lastly, a claims investigator, agent... can NOT do what James Whitaker's character does near the end of the movie, or even throughout the movie.

The ending was rather unusual. Afterward, it does make sense, in a strange way. But this is a strange film. Give it a try if you have nothing better to do and like strange plot twists.

This Icelandic film has a feel of Fargo, but comes up short despite the stars attached.

The scenery is bleak and depressing, just like Iceland in the winter. It adds the right atmosphere to a murder/insurance scam. There are some obvious plot holes, and it seems to drag a bit at times, but the story is fascinating and the characters are favorites.

Forest Whitaker (The Great Debaters, The Last King of Scotland) is a claims adjuster and tries to wring the last dime out of his clients, just as his boss (Peter Coyote) does. They are ruthless about the fine print in a contract.

Whitaker is investigating a crash where the victim burned to a crisp. He is like Columbo the way he asks questions and keeps hammering until he gets at the truth. Julia Stiles (The Bourne trilogy, The Omen) is supposedly living with her husband and son, and it is her brother that is supposedly dead in the crash (we all know different, but she doesn't), but Whitaker ferrets out the truth.

Of course, he falls for her - who wouldn't - and this leads to a strange Coen Brothers ending.

It was a nice ride getting there.

This somewhat awkward transition to American markets finds Icelandic director Baltasar Kormákur a bit over his head with this little mystery. In effect, A Little Trip to Heaven plays a bit like the watered down, third-rate cousin of the thriller Insomnia (nothing spectacular to begin with), although here most potential intrigue is crushed by the deadening weight of a charisma-lacking direction. A talented trio of actors do help elevate the often lifeless direction, but the movie does take an even greater toll by employing Forest Whitaker in the misguided lead. A shame to be coming out on DVD so quickly after his triumphant academy win, Whitaker's questionable Canadian-esqe accent paired with the boring, underdeveloped character he is written here just proves too bland for lead role material. Co-stars Jeremy Renner and Julia Stiles do offer more inviting performances however.

Difficult as the actual lack of energy beaming off the screen may be, the film is not without it's subtle shade of merit. Beyond the b-grade artistry lies a filmmaker with a promising talent for composition, often showing his best, least obvious strength when setting up succeeding, more important shots. As well, the script might have seemed a lot more convincing when on paper (which would explain some of the big name interest), offering a humbly ambitious, localized little guessing game centering around insurance fraud. Sadly, the adaptation to screen just does not gel in any real compelling way, though the detail oriented plot should throw enough curve balls to keep mystery buffs afloat.

I went into this screening without any prior knowledge of the film, and I was pleasantly surprised. Well acted and well directed, this is a more mature and deeper "thriller" than we're accustomed to. The story is compelling with enough twists and turns to keep one interested, but what was really riveting was the fact that the movie wraps up neatly but in a thought provoking way, unlike so much predictable Hollywood fluff nowadays. It is a thinking person's film and I appreciated that.

One other thing I wanted to note on was the tone: dark, bleak, isolated, and barren. From the acting to the cinematography, the director really nailed this feeling in everything from the characterizations to the visuals. Just something I really noticed.

"A Little Trip To Heaven" is a well-acted drama.

The Plot: Abe Holt (Whitaker) is an insurance investigator who is sent to a small town to find out about a car accident. He meets Isolde (Stiles) and realizes that the truth could also be a scam.

Forest Whitaker is excellent in the role. He brings a lot of sadness and humility to it. His accent, while unnecessary, works for him. Julia Stiles also does a good job, and Peter Coyote, as Holt's boss, is always worth watching. The climax\ending doesn't work but it could have ended worse.

"A Little Trip To Heaven" is definitely a hidden gem that's being thrown onto the video market. It works well on the small screen however.

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Jeremy Renner plays a white trash criminal with a wife played by Julia Stiles, (known from the Jason Bourne movies as the female agent). Husband and wife fake a claim for a million dollar life insurance after they staged an accident. Will they get away with it or will insurance agent Forrest Whitaker find out the truth?

This insurance scam idea is great. Could make for great suspense. Unfortunately the story falls flat, because of some pretty big credibility flaws, things that just WOULD NOT happen in real life during an insurance investigation. Too bad, because the acting is great. However the story just lacks coherence and credibility, so however great the acting is, it still falls flat. With a more credible story this could have been a very suspenseful con movie, but unfortunately now only the directing and acting is left to be praised. What's good though are the many plot twists and turns that kept me curious about how it would all end. Not bad, but not good either. 6 stars.

Funny endnote: the end credits of this icelandic production were rather special because it featured the names of ALL the extras that acted in this movie. That is never done in any other movie. I would love to be an extra myself. Knowing that I have NONE acting skills whatsoever I would be thrilled to play as an invisible extra. And what better proof that you took part then an actual credit with your name at the end!

I have not seen the movie, as it hasn't arrived here in Iceland, but I must tell you one thing, one thing that will surprise you...This movie was filmed in Iceland, I saw a comment where someone said Baltasar Kormákur had left Iceland, but actually I think he never left, except maybe for cutting and editing the film, but ALL the filming was done here. (why must I have the comment 10 lines, this will result in me getting blocked, well anyways..... . ........... ........... ....... .......... ......... ........ .... ......... ...... .............. .... ............. .......... ..... ....... ..... ....... ............. ........ .............. ................. ........... . .............)

A little trip to heaven is an odd film, not good though not particularly bad. It's a film that survives on the merits of an excellent cast and in particular the performance of Forest Whitaker. He play a quiet, reserved inquisitive insurance investigator. His character Abe has so many ticks and tocks and little mannerisms that it's a pity he's never fleshed out, Abe is a good man but why does he do what he does? Why is he single if he's so sympathetic? And why does he care about Isolde? None of the questions aroused are answered. There is no mystery here. The story is okay, excluding some footage earlier on would have been awesome, for instance if you left the audience in doubt for a longer time it would have been much better. The film just never pulls you in, it keep the viewer at a distance, even with all it's foibles this could have been an amazing film if they could have simply fleshed out Whitakers character. The ending sucks too, pure suckage, inexplicable actions taken and consequences garnered...

Why is there a road sign that sAus Needles, I thought that was in California

HEAVEN stars Forest Whitaker as an insurance investigator who smells a rat in the case of a fatal car crash in snowy Minnesota. In fact, it turns out to be just one in a series of insurance frauds perpetrated by a sister (Julia Styles) and brother (Jeremy Renner of ROAD TRIP). The movie, directed by an Icelander, has a n extremely bleak feel about it. Ice and snow are not surprisingly a prevalent theme. The locations look a lot like those used in FARGO, in fact. This is a thriller, but a thinking man's thriller, and confused identities play a prominent role. Whitaker offers up a very odd, clipped accent and stutter to go with his shambling, raincoat-draped, Colombo-like character. Renner, who has been pretty much invisible throughout his career, acts the bejeezus out of his character -- just as he did on a recent HOUSE, MD, where he played a nihilistic punk rocker. Styles, more of a pretty face than an actress, manages to look pretty throughout, even with dirty hair and shabby clothes. Worth a look. Clearly a foreign film using a trio of American stars and U.S. locales. But still foreign. Check out the names in the closing credits to see what I mean.

A back and forth whirlwind of confusing events leading to a difficult to believe end.

Overall, this movie is pretty good. Forrest Whitaker does a good job as a detective in a rural area, and Julia Styles does a good job as an abused wife (if I remember). Overall, the movie's very slow for the first hour, but then it gets better within the last 30 minutes. I thought it was a complex, yet smooth movie to sit through. Styles to me is underrated as an actress and may be dated to the 2000s as peak, but that shouldn't discourage you from watching this. It also goes into detail about Life Insurance and the claims people will actually go through to protect the bottom line. This wasn't a big hit, but I think it will be popular in the future. It's actually my favorite Forrest Whittaker film.

This movie shows what's great about film festivals. So many movies, and they're not tied down to every Hollywood cliché in the book.

The way Little Trip plays out is hard to describe. Forest Whitaker plays an insurance investigator, a company man. He comes to know Julia Stiles' character, a vulnerable housewife living with an unpredictable screw-up (Renner) on barren tundra.

The relationship between Stiles & Renner was intricate yet believable. And the relationship between Stiles & Whitaker is surprising. I didn't see the ending coming, which I appreciate always. I'm so tired of formulaic thrillers. This movie reminded me of movies from the 70's - the good old days when every plot point wasn't spoon fed. It has style and feeling like classics from that time too.

Great actors but I had a hard time with following the whole plot. The scenery and tone was bleak, so they did a good job with that as I assume that was what they aimed for. I don't mind a good drama but this didn't work for me.

Director Baltasar Kormakur leaves Iceland to make an American movie, except he really doesn't, and that's a large part of the problem. Kormakur actually shot this film in Iceland, and it would take a hyper-credulous viewer to accept these stark landscapes as Minnesota. "Heaven" is a dark tale about insurance fraud. Dark in every sense of the word, as several early scenes are nearly invisible. The plot is murky; the cast's accents are all over the lot, especially Forest Whitaker's. Whitaker's attempts at Minnesotan leave him somewhere between Duluth and Dublin. The ending is intended to be richly ironic, but falls absolutely flat. For a far better experience, see Kormakur's "101 Reykjavik."