Hollywood Actress Anne Heche in Coma Since Fiery Car Crash

Actor Anne Heche attends the 74th Annual Directors Guild of America (DGA) Awards in Beverly Hills, California, US, March 12, 2022. (Reuters)
Actor Anne Heche attends the 74th Annual Directors Guild of America (DGA) Awards in Beverly Hills, California, US, March 12, 2022. (Reuters)
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Hollywood Actress Anne Heche in Coma Since Fiery Car Crash

Actor Anne Heche attends the 74th Annual Directors Guild of America (DGA) Awards in Beverly Hills, California, US, March 12, 2022. (Reuters)
Actor Anne Heche attends the 74th Annual Directors Guild of America (DGA) Awards in Beverly Hills, California, US, March 12, 2022. (Reuters)

Hollywood actress Anne Heche remained hospitalized in critical condition, comatose and connected to a breathing machine on Monday, four days after suffering severe injuries in a fiery Los Angeles car crash, a spokesperson for the performer said.

Heche, 53, has been hospitalized since shortly after the compact car she was driving sped out of control in a Westside neighborhood of Los Angeles late Friday morning, plowed into a house and burst into flames, according to police.

No one inside the home was hurt, but the impact set the dwelling ablaze, requiring a response by dozens of firefighters.

A Los Angeles Police Department spokesperson said on Monday the cause and circumstances of the crash remain under investigation.

Heche is in a coma and has not regained consciousness since shortly after the accident, said Michael McConnell, a member of the Los Angeles talent management company representing her, Zero Gravity Management.

"At this time, she is in extreme critical condition," he told Reuters in a text message, adding that Heche "has significant pulmonary injury requiring mechanical ventilation and burns that require surgical intervention."

The Los Angeles Times quoted a Venice Beach salon owner, Richard Glass, recounting a visit by Heche to his shop shortly before the accident, describing her as "a sweet little girl" as she purchased a red wig on Friday morning.

Heche came to prominence for her Emmy-winning work on the daytime television drama "Another World" and went on to star in other screen roles including the HBO series "Hung" and such films as "Wag the Dog" and "Cedar Rapids."



Movie Review: In 'Heads of State,' a Buddy Comedy with Statesmen

 This image released by Prime shows John Cena, left, and Idris Elba in a scene from "Heads of State." (Bruno Calvo/Prime via AP)
This image released by Prime shows John Cena, left, and Idris Elba in a scene from "Heads of State." (Bruno Calvo/Prime via AP)
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Movie Review: In 'Heads of State,' a Buddy Comedy with Statesmen

 This image released by Prime shows John Cena, left, and Idris Elba in a scene from "Heads of State." (Bruno Calvo/Prime via AP)
This image released by Prime shows John Cena, left, and Idris Elba in a scene from "Heads of State." (Bruno Calvo/Prime via AP)

Say what you will about the Idris Elba-John Cena vehicle “Heads of State,” but it’s surely the first buddy comedy about the fraying bonds of NATO.

The potential collapse of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization plays a surprisingly pivotal role in this fitfully diverting, for-background-noise-only, straight-to-streaming movie. Elba plays the embattled British Prime Minister Sam Clarke, while Cena co-stars as the recently elected US President Will Derringer, a former action star.

“Heads of State,” directed by Ilya Naishuller (“Nobody”), is mostly about their relationship, a tense and adversarial one challenged further when an assassination plot leaves them stranded together in Belarus. But that “Heads of State,” which debuts Wednesday on Prime Video, is such a mild romp makes it all the more surprising to hear a line uttered like: “If NATO falls, there’s no backstop against despots and dictators.”

It’s a funny time to release a comedy set around international political disconnection and imperiled Western democracy. But if you were beginning to worry that “Heads of State” is too timely, don’t. Any nods to current events here serve more as reminders of how much “Heads of State” — like most of Hollywood’s output — is unengaged with anything resembling our political reality.

You could argue that that’s not necessarily a bad thing. You could also argue that the greater sin of “Heads of State” is underusing Stephen Root. (He plays an expert working for the bad guys.) But the vaguest hints of real-world intrigue only cast a pale light on the movie’s mostly lackluster comic chops and uninspired action sequences.

The best thing going for “Heads of State” is that the chemistry between Elba and Cena is solid. The “Suicide Squad” co-stars trade barbs with a genial ease. Most of the time, those revolve around their characters’ divergent histories — Clarke was a commando before becoming a politician — in debates like which one of them is “gym strong” as opposed to “strong strong.”

That’s one of the few decent gags in the script by Josh Applebaum, Andre Nemec and Harrison Query. But one problem in “Heads of State” goes beyond the high-concept set-up. The best buddy comedies — “Midnight Run,” “48 Hrs.,” “The Nice Guys” — are predicated on opposites thrown together. Elba and Cena have their obvious differences. (Cena’s Derringer is exaggeratedly optimistic here, too.) But ultimately they’re both beefy dudes in suits.

As the MI6 agent Noel Bisset, Priyanka Chopra Jones gives the movie a kick. But her scenes are left to the beginning and end of the movie. In between, we’re left to wonder where she went, how two political leaders would have such non-existent security and whether a few half-decent jokes are enough to forgive the movie's geopolitical delusions.