In the Electric Mist (2009)

I have been a long time fan of the writing of James Lee Burke. When they made Heaven's Prisoners into a movie I was disappointed with the finished product. So was everyone else and they didn't make any more of his books into films. I was glad to see that now, years later, they have decided to make another film. The casting is excellent and the story telling is true to the book. Tommy Lee Jones plays the main character about as well as I could imagine anyone playing Dave. I hope the movie is received with good reviews because I would love to see more of the series made into films. I highly recommend this excellent film to anyone. I think that James Lee Burke fans would be pleased, as well as people unfamiliar with the books. See this movie!!! It does not disappoint. The only thing I wish they had done, was make a movie out of one of the books that has Clete Purcel as a main character. I would love to see Black Cherry Blues made into a movie. I just think it would be hard to cast Clete. Maybe that character is too big for the silver screen.

Fmovies: I can count on my fingers with half my hand cut away the number of times I've ever been disappointed by Tommy Lee Jones's performance in a film. This film here is no exception. John Goodman is another who always delivers a solid performance and they both give us a great show. The writing of the script is solid and the setting of the film is provoking. The entire film works well with support from veteran character actors like Ned Beatty, craggy faced James Gammon and ex-drummer Levon Helm, as well as younger performers like Mary Steenburgen, Justina Machado,Kelly Macdonald and the up and coming Peter Sargaard.

One might argue that this kind of a role is almost type casting for Tommy Lee Jones but I would argue otherwise. An actor works with what he has and TLJ has always been able to use his face to great advantage from a stone-cold glare to a sheepish grin. The story is told from his character's point of view, in this case, a person with an uncompromising sense of justice-- not a paragon of virtue, by any means, but one who refuses to sacrifice his principles of right and wrong, i.e., the hero with a decidedly human face. The tension does not let up as the hunt draws closer and closer to the conclusion. While I think the little coda at the end was unneeded, it still works to make a good story.

I stumbled blindly onto this on Netflix, saw it had Tommy Lee Jones in it and figured I enjoy just about anything he touches. Low and behold, I was delightful impressed by this.

This tragic story about a detective investigating a murder is just pure intensity. But it's not action film intensity, it's the intensity of the pursuit of justice. So much unfortunate murders, innocents forced and the power brokers not caring about anyone else but themselves and their own fortune.

There are only a few shows I've watched where I felt like I could feel what it's like to be in the part of the country where it was filmed, and this is without a doubt one of them. The deep, dark, sultry bowels of Louisiana. Stunning landscapes, intense humidity, mosquito's almost as big as the ones in Northern Minnesota, just breathtaking location filming. Moody without being over-dramatic, enriching and intricate plot and story.

This may have been an accidental find, but I'm sure glad I stumbled onto it. Wonderful movie, highly recommended.

In the Electric Mist fmovies. I read the book last summer and was anxious to see the film. If you did not read the book you might find things confusing. Unfortunately they did not expand on the mystical episodes that Elrod and Dave have regarding the confederate soldiers and how Elrod stays with Dave for a time and the really confusing part on how Dave was shot outside the club by the "dead" woman. In all, it followed the book and was very well acted, but it left too many important "book" parts out. Tommy Lee Jones was great and I think he made a terrific Dave, but I'm sorry they didn't show more of Peter Sarsgaard; he's such a terrific actor and in the book his character is as "insightful" regarding the confederate soldiers as Dave. If you read the book before watching the movie, you'll get it. I really enjoyed the movie.

First, there's the great French director, Tavernier, who made many films Americans missed. But at least most remember "'Round Midnight,'" an amazingly done jazz film with the late Dexter Gordon. Then there are the great actors, from Tommy Lee (who did indeed "nail" Robicheaux), but also Ned Beatty, Mary Steenburgen (who made the ordinary character of Bootsie bearable), the other great director John Sayles (as a director,of course) and countless lesser known character actors. The production values are superb. I've read most of Burke's novels and the sets of Dave's house, the dives he visits, the bayou, all of it are exactly as I'd imagined. The writing is good and I don't get why people think the story is confusing. But there is one major flaw (for me) that rankles. Why cast musicians (Levon Helm, Buddy Guy) in roles that really need strong acting? Helm was a great drummer for The Band, but I've never seen him act with much conviction. And the character of the dead Confederate general requires strength. Hal Holbrook would have been perfect. Then there's Buddy Guy, a great Chicago blues man, but he's no actor. He seemed almost to be reading most of his lines from off camera in one scene.

You cannot put strong actors in the same scenes with weak ones. But good actors together can make a scene--witness the last confrontation between Tommy Lee's Robicheaux and Ned Beatty's Lemoyne.

So, solid direction, much strong acting, faithful to the book, great sets and setting, all brought lower by some bad casting. Still, I think this one deserves more respect, especially compared to many of this year's "Oscar worthy" films.

Filled with bayou atmosphere, the film follows Louisiana detective Dave Robicheaux as he sorts through two cases that tie together past and present, history and future, black and white, rich and poor. The cultural tension that permeates the movie creates the backdrop for a psychological crime drama whose suspense comes primarily from the personal conflict of Robicheaux. The crime action itself serves more to buffet the lead character on his internal journey than to create an action-heavy thrill-ride.

In the Electric Mist is rich in atmosphere, and that is perhaps its strongest point. All aspects of the film-making process come together to drive home the feeling of the Lousiana bayou, from the detailed sets to the slow pace to the contrast between the simmering intensity of the true Louisiana folks with the outlandish extroversion of the outsiders and the locals who have been won over by Hollywood culture. It is a movie best experienced with your full attention.

There is a strong sense of suspense in the film, but it is delivered through tragedy and the search for resolution, not high action. While Tommy Lee Jones delivers the sort of performance one might expect and there are certainly plenty of thriller mainstay elements, this is not an action piece, an in intrigue, or a intricate mystery. If you cannot get invested in the tension of a complicated shades-of-grey lead character and his search for answers to questions that may not e fully expressed, the suspense will likely escape you and you will be left with a slow movie with an unsurprising plot. And if you cannot get absorbed into the play of contrasts and dialectics within the fabric of the rural Louisiana cultural fabric, you probably find the message trite, the ending too neat, and some of the performances (e.g., John Goodman as Baby Feet Balboni) as over-the-top and distracting. But if you can allow yourself to experience the film through Jones' Robicheaux, you will find yourself sharing his internal conflict, delighting in bright spots of energy like Alana Locke's Alafair, and clinging to a misty hope for resolution.