''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 known for his role as Brian O'Conner in the ''Fast & Furious'' franchise. Walker began his career as a child actor in the 1980s, gaining recogniti ...

as Ben, a former criminal who gets a second chance at life and mysteriously wakes up working at a

psychiatric hospital Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental health hospitals, behavioral health hospitals, are hospitals or wards specializing in the treatment of severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, dissociat ...

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 ''The Prestige'' (2006), ''Angel Has Fallen'' (2019), and as CIA agent Annie Walke ...

, Linda Cardellini, Malcolm Goodwin,

Tony Curran Tony Curran is a Scottish actor who has appeared in '' Underworld: Evolution'', ''Doctor Who'', ''Roots'', and the Netflix historical epic '' Outlaw King''. He appears in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film '' Thor: The Dark World'' (2013) as Bo ...

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.

Plot

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, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

, 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 U.S. Department of Labor e ...

of a nearby psychiatric hospital in a small

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. 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. * Linda Cardellini as Julie Ingram, the hospital's psychiatrist who takes interest in helping Ben. *

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 ...

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 Wilson (born 3 August 1958) is a French actor, singer and activist. He is best known internationally for his portrayal of The Merovingian in ''The Matrix Reloaded'', ''The Matrix Revolutions'' and ''The Matrix Resurrections''. Biograph ...

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

Shawn Hatosy Shawn Wayne Hatosy is an American film and television actor and director. He is best known for his roles in the films '' In & Out'', ''The Faculty'', '' Outside Providence'', '' Anywhere but Here'', ''The Cooler'', and ''Alpha Dog''. He is also w ...

as Ricky Garvey, Ben's brother. * Brooklynn Proulx as Katie Garvey, Ben's daughter.

Themes

The title refers to the New Testament character Lazarus. 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 Brandon may refer to: Names and people *Brandon (given name), a male given name *Brandon (surname), a surname with several different origins Places Australia *Brandon, a farm and 19th century homestead in Seaham, New South Wales *Brandon, Q ...

Manitoba , image_map = Manitoba in Canada 2.svg , map_alt = Map showing Manitoba's location in the centre of Southern Canada , Label_map = yes , coordinates = , capital = Winn ...

, Canada. The film script refers to several small Oregon towns, Mount Angel, Silverton, and Dundee. Only Mount Angel and Silverton are close enough for the lead character to walk between them at 4 miles apart. Dundee is not close to either Mount Angel, or Silverton. While these towns are referred to in the movie none of the filming was 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, arranger, and record producer, best known for his film, television, and video game scores. In his 24-year career, Tyler has scored '' Transformers: Prime'', ''Eagle ...

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 original cast recordings. It aims to reissue rare or unavailable albums, as well as newer r ...

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-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, and Stephen Wang ...

, 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 drama 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 drama films Films produced by David Hoberman Films produced by Todd Lieberman 2000s English-language films 2000s American films