The Price of Heaven (1997 film)

The Price of Heaven is a TV movie directed by Peter Bogdanovich. It was an adaptation of Allan Gurganus's novella Blessed Assurance: A Moral Tale from the book White People.[1]

Plot

Vesta Lotte Battle is a spinster who fixes broken china. She befriends Jerry Hill (Grant Show), a young white man who has returned from the Korean War. He works for a ruthless businessman (George Wendt) who persuades him to exploit poor blacks by selling them funeral insurance.

Cast

Reception

The New York Times said the film was "marred by a screenplay that makes its upper-class white characters... simply stupid rather than complicatedly so. But the back-and-forth between Ms. Tyson and Mr. Show is quick and sure, and they are very good at illustrating how imperfect redemption is better than no redemption at all."[2]

The Los Angeles Times said "Bogdanovich is frightfully ham-fisted at times, but for the most part, he gently underscores what's going on here. Though it's never directly addressed, a civil rights awareness is blossoming in certain of these characters. Yet despite its good intentions, "The Price of Heaven" fizzles into just another tale of a handsome, promising young man who's trying to choose between his sweet longtime girlfriend (Lori Loughlin) and a rich, obnoxious bombshell (Cari Shayne)--as though, in the middle of production, everyone began acting from a discarded "Melrose Place" script."[3]

References
  1. WEEKEND TV; Films From Bogdanovich, Friedkin; Remembering Elvis: [Home Edition] King, Susan. Los Angeles Times 14 Aug 1997: 48.
  2. Episodes From a Transitory World: [Review] Joyner, Will. New York Times 15 Aug 1997: 21.
  3. TV REVIEW; 'Heaven' Struggles Against Script in Civil Rights Drama: [Home Edition] Miller, Daryl H. Los Angeles Times 16 Aug 1997: F, 16:1.
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