'Haven'

Raz Aboti
Orlando Bloom
Agnes Bruckner
Joy Bryant
Bobby Cannavale
Stephen Dillane
Anthony Mackie
Bill Paxton
Victor Rasuk
Zoe Saldana

R           99min           2004

‘Haven’ is set during a weekend, two shady businessmen (Paxton and Dillane) flee to the Cayman Islands to avoid federal prosecution. But their escape ignites a chain reaction that leads a British native (Bloom) to commit a crime that changes the nation.

This is an outstanding film. It follows several different storylines and you have to pay close attention because it uses a lot of flashbacks that cut to different perspectives without warning. This film is indie at its best, with an outstanding cast.

The cast of ‘Haven’ gave great performances, and it showed the distinction among the island life. Orlando Bloom gave one of the best performances of his career. You deeply feel bad for his character. This cast has talent all the way through even the secondary characters had good performance. Sarah Carter (Smallville, Shark) makes an appearance as an island coke whore, and I did realize it was her until my second viewing.

This is an indie film that you will either get it or not. You may have to watch it a second or third time to pick up every nuance of this film. It well worth a second or third view its just that good. Its beautifully shot. It really shows the beauty and the darkside of the Cayman Islands.

‘Haven’ is one that should not be missed. If you a fan of any of the actors list you will love this film. This is why indie films get made because they produce great quality work like this. The DVD is slack on extra feature only a make of featurette and three trailers.

I give it 5/5 Gs.