In the Electric Mist (2009)

My TV Guide, sometimes erratic, gives this one and a half stars out of four but I don't know why.Granted, it couldn't have been very expensive. Most of the stars are people to whom important roles are no longer coming. And it DOES meander, like the bayous and the oxbow lakes of the Louisiana bayou country. Colorful characters, both real and hallucinated, are embedded in it, and Sheriff Tommy Lee Jones' search for a killer, or killers, leads him to one after another. And there is a noir-like narration that keeps us up with events. From time to time, at least in the last few lines, it's evocative and agreeably literate.But, by God, it really does reek of atmosphere. Not the cotton candy fluff of "The Big Easy" or "Angel Heart." We don't hear any French spoken and nothing much is made of cajun music or blackened redfish. A glimpse of All Saints' Cemetery but nothing of Bourbon Street. I didn't see anyone eat a shrimp.The story is too complicated to get into. Briefly, besides a forty-year-old killing, and a few more recent ones, there is a look at producing a movie, fighting mosquitoes, the career of a drunk, and a hero who doesn't hesitate to do a Dirty Harry number on a suspect.I don't see how the performances could be improved. Tommy Lee Jones, now a bit past his romantic young man period, has always been an innovative actor. You never really know how he's going to tackle the next line. You can't anticipate its terminal contours.Mary Steenbergen looks just dandy as Jones' wife. Ned Beatty is all bluster and pathos. John Goodman is a two-dimensional villain. There are weaknesses too. If I had to have a hallucinated figure mentoring me, it wouldn't be old John Bell Hood, who had a furious temper and was extremely aggressive.It's worth catching.

IN THE ELECTRIC MIST is a near-perfect neo-noir anchored by a solid, yet restrained, performance by Tommy Lee Jones. Ever since I heard about this, I wanted to see it and boy was I surprised. It exceeded my expectations greatly. The story, put simply, is about a New Orleans detective Dave Robicheaux (Jones) who is investigating the murder of a prostitute and also looking into the 40-year-old murder of a black man who was recently found in a swamp. Along the way he ends up getting into situations that drag him further into Louisana's deep dark secrets and past, uncovers some things that other people would rather forget and has some surreal encounters with a Confederate general. That last bit really caught me off-guard, and also calls into the question the mental state of Robicheaux, who also serves as the film's narrator. I really liked the way that the filmmakers play around with the concept of reality in this movie, because it adds some depth to a fairly standard story and it also works in the thematic context of the story itself. There were also some great supporting performances given by John Goodman, as a crime boss who is also investing in a movie being shot there, Peter Sarsgaard as actor in that movie, as well as Mary Steenburgen (Robicheaux's wife), Kelly MacDonald, Buddy Guy and Levon Helm. Each of these actors has moments in the film where they can show off their acting ability, and not a moment is wasted with them. Also of note is the stunning soundtrack, which is full of great blues tunes and native Cajun folk songs which really bring out and accentuate the Louisiana culture on display. The score also helps to establish and maintain the palpable dramatic tension as well as give some shades of melancholy which are also personified in Jones' weathered detective character. If there was one fault I could find with the movie, it's a third act twist which is a bit predictable and cliché, but fortunately it's resolved rather quickly. Overall, the real draw is the strong central performance by Tommy Lee Jones who does a great job of portraying a seasoned, hard-boiled detective with some flaws, but a good sense of right and wrong. I also especially liked the idea of transplanting the hard-boiled detective story into post-Katrina New Orleans. Highly recommended viewing.

This is the 2nd time trying to watch this movie. Both times I have given up after about 30 minutes. It's just so amateur. I'll lay the blame squarely at the Director, Bertrand Tavernier. I found the direction, the dialogue, the plot and even the editing badly executed. I sat there watching actors acting, which is not right. Nothing was believable and a hackneyed plot to boot. 4/10 is all it's worth. This just proves that TV is where drama is God these days. I have to right 10 lines to review this tedious movie. Boy that's an ask. OK. Even Mr Goodman's character and his cronies are some comic book version of the movie industry. Tommy Lee looks old and tired. Probably he aged quickly realising that his agent needs to work for that 10% a bit harder next time. Go watch some Coen Bros films instead folks!

how for the life of me that this movie only rated a 6.1 on IMDb is beyond me. OK, 6.1 would mean its a pretty decent movie but this movie is better then that. the 102 minutes of this movie passed by in a breeze it seems. the movie was so good i didn't want it to end. the portrayal of the bayou and its people were dead on. tommy lee doesn't do bad acting, he puts his all into every role, occasionally he just winds up in a bad movie but it wouldn't be his fault.for you people out there who like a good murder mystery movie, here's one of the better ones. this movie was paced perfectly, not to slow or fast, the dialogue was great and u felt like u were in the bayou. there wasn't one bad actor in this movie, everybody did a bang up job. i just wish movies like just would just get its fair shot instead of going straight to DVD. there's so many crappy movies out there that have a higher rating then this one..., what a joke. people out there if u see this review, plz...plz give this movie a chance, u wouldn't regret it.