''The Lazarus Project'' (formerly known as ''The Heaven Project'' is a 2008 American drama/thriller film directed and written by John Patrick Glenn. It stars

Paul Walker Paul William Walker IV (September 12, 1973 – November 30, 2013) was an American actor. He was best known for his role as Brian O'Conner in the ''Fast & Furious'' franchise. Paul Walker began his career as a child actor in the 1980s, gainin ...

as Ben, a former criminal who gets a second chance at life after mysteriously waking up employed at a

psychiatric hospital A psychiatric hospital, also known as a mental health hospital, a behavioral health hospital, or an asylum is a specialized medical facility that focuses on the treatment of severe Mental disorder, mental disorders. These institutions cater t ...

Piper Perabo Piper Lisa Perabo ( ; born October 31, 1976) is an American actress. Following her breakthrough in the comedy-drama film '' Coyote Ugly'' (2000), she starred in ''Cheaper by the Dozen'' (2003), its sequel '' Cheaper by the Dozen 2'' (2005), '' ...

Linda Cardellini Linda Edna Cardellini (born June 25, 1975) is an American actress. In television, she is known for her starring roles in the teen drama ''Freaks and Geeks'' (1999–2000), the medical drama ''ER (TV series), ER'' (2003–2009), and the thriller ...

Malcolm Goodwin Malcolm Goodwin (born November 28, 1982) is an American actor, known for his role as Clive Babineaux in The CW supernatural comedy-drama series '' iZombie'' (2015-2019). In 2022, Goodwin portrayed Oscar Finlay in the Amazon Prime Video series ' ...

Tony Curran Tony Curran is a Scottish actor who has appeared in the film '' Underworld: Evolution'' (2006), the television series ''Doctor Who'' (2010), the miniseries ''Roots'' (2016), and the Netflix historical drama film ''Outlaw King'' (2018). He appear ...

, and

Bob Gunton Robert Patrick Gunton Jr. (born November 15, 1945) is an American character actor of stage and screen. He is known for playing strict authoritarian characters, including Warden Samuel Norton in the 1994 prison drama ''The Shawshank Redemption'', ...

also star in the film, which was released on DVD on October 21, 2008.

Premise

Ben Garvey, a reformed criminal, loses his job because of his criminal background. His brother Ricky comes to visit after being released from jail and convinces him to commit a robbery of gold dust from a laboratory. The heist goes horribly wrong, and Ricky and two others are killed.

Sentenced to death Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...

, Ben gets a visit from his wife and daughter; Ben tells his daughter that he's not coming back. He then goes and prepares himself for the lethal injection. Ben is presumably put to death, but is next shown hitching a ride from an unknown man who asks if he is the new

groundskeeper Groundskeeping is the activity of tending an area of land for aesthetic or functional purposes, typically in an institutional setting. It includes mowing grass, trimming hedges, pulling weeds, planting flowers, etc. The United States Department o ...

of a nearby psychiatric hospital in a small

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

town. Ben is told that he has been given a second chance from God and to begin work as a groundskeeper at the local mental hospital. Ben wants to go home but is denied and as time goes on, and with a wife and daughter he left behind, he wonders whether he has truly cheated death or if he has become part of a far more sinister scientific plan for both him and the other inmates at the hospital.

Cast

as Ben Garvey, an ex-con who gets a second chance at life and begins work at a psychiatric hospital. *

as Julie Ingram, the hospital's psychiatrist who takes interest in helping Ben. *

as Robbie, one of the hospital's patients. *

as William Reeds, an extremely violent psychopath who claims to know why Ben is at the hospital. *

as Father Ezra, a priest who also runs the hospital. *

as Lisa Garvey, Ben's wife. *

Lambert Wilson Lambert Nicolas Wilson (; né Willson, 3 August 1958) is a French actor and theatre director. He is a seven-time Cesar Award nominee, four for César Award for Best Actor, Best Actor and three for César Award for Best Supporting Actor, Best Sup ...

as Avery, a mysterious figure that keeps appearing to offer unwanted guidance. *

Shawn Hatosy Shawn Wayne Hatosy (born December 29, 1975) is an American film and television actor and director. He is best known for his roles in the films ''In & Out (film), In & Out'' (1997), ''The Faculty'' (1998), ''Outside Providence (film), Outside Pro ...

as Ricky Garvey, Ben's brother. *

Brooklynn Proulx Brooklynn Marie Proulx (born April 27, 1999) is a Canadian former actress. She was born on April 27, 1999, in Cranbrook, British Columbia, and resides in Calgary, Alberta. Her first role was playing Paris Jackson in a film about American sing ...

as Katie Garvey, Ben's daughter.

Themes

The title refers to the New Testament character

Lazarus Lazarus may refer to: People *Lazarus (name), a surname and a given name * Lazarus of Bethany, a Biblical figure described as being raised from the dead by Jesus * Lazarus, a Biblical figure from the parable of the Rich man and Lazarus * Lazar ...

. In chapter 11 of the Gospel of St. John, Lazarus is raised from the dead by Jesus after having been entombed for four days. Otherwise, nothing in the film's plot parallels the New Testament story; in fact, the film's protagonist rebels against those who "raised" him from the dead, something inconceivable for the character Lazarus.

Production

Written and directed by John Patrick Glenn in his directorial debut, production was originally slated for September 2005 with Mandeville Films but was ultimately delayed. Production finally began in March 2007 with filming beginning on April 27, 2007, in Brandon,

Manitoba Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...

, Canada. Although the film script refers to several small Oregon towns — Mount Angel, Silverton, and Dundee — the filming was not done there. The film marked the first company credit for Be Good Productions, a production company created by

, Brandon Birtell and Tim Whitcome. Composer

Brian Tyler Brian Theodore Tyler (born May 8, 1972) is an American composer, conductor and arranger, best known for his film, television, and video game scores. In his 26-year career, Tyler has scored seven installments of the ''Fast & Furious'' franchise, ...

recorded the score for the film. He stated that, "This one is going to be an ensemble type of score, very introspective, very heartfelt, it is a movie about purgatory and it's going to be different than anything I've done before, and I am really happy and very excited doing it."

Music

The soundtrack for ''The Lazarus Project'' was released by

Varèse Sarabande Varèse Sarabande is an American record label, owned by Concord Music Group and distributed by Universal Music Group, which specializes in film scores and cast recording, original cast recordings. It aims to reissue rare or unavailable albums, as ...

on March 3, 2009. All of its compositions were produced by

Reception

''The Lazarus Project'' received mixed reactions from critics. , the film holds a 60% approval rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, based on five reviews with an average rating of 5.43/10.

References

External links

* *
The Lazarus Project trailer
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lazarus Project 2008 films 2008 thriller films Films scored by Brian Tyler Films set in Oregon Films shot in Manitoba Mandeville Films films 2008 directorial debut films 2008 drama films American thriller films Films produced by David Hoberman Films produced by Todd Lieberman 2000s English-language films 2000s American films English-language thriller films