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List Price: $27.98 | | Label: IMAGE ENTERTAINMENT
Salesrank: 6678
Released: March 3, 2009 |
| Our Price: $3.98 |
| Used Price: $1.14 |
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MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Academy Award winner Tommy Lee Jones leads an all-star cast in this psychological thriller based on the bestselling novel by James Lee Burke.
While on an investigation into a series of grisly murders, veteran detective Dave Robicheaux (Jones) navigates his way through the Louisiana bayou and the dark, sultry world of New Orleans mobster "Baby Feet" Balboni (John Goodman). Layers of corruption and long-dead secrets reawaken grudges and a lethal alliance A tangled web of killings, past and present, converges in a shocking showdown with stakes that become deeply personal to Robicheaux and his family. Featuring music from five-time GRAMMY Award-winner Buddy Guy, this film takes you deep into Cajun country's hidden worlds. *Best Supporting Actor: The Fugitive, 1993
Description of In the Electric Mist:
Based on the book series by James Lee Burke, In the Electric Mist tackles murder, mobsters, Hollywood drama… and apparitions of long-dead confederate soldiers. The film begins with Detective Dave Robicheaux (Tommy Lee Jones) investigating the murder of a young woman in his small parish town while dealing with the influx of irresponsible Hollywood star Elrod Sykes (Peter Sarsgaard). While filming a civil war epic, Elrod discovers the remains of a man killed decades earlier, a crime Dave himself witnessed but did not report. Adding to the intrigue is the appearance of ghosts from a forgotten era: confederate soldiers lead by Gen. John Bell Hood. Offering advice and direction to Dave, the specter of Hood may seem disjointed, but in Cajun country, full of real and imagined ghosts, it’s not hard to imagine. As more murders occur and secrets from the past are brought to light, will Dave succeed in stopping a vicious killer? Jones delivers a believable portrayal of a tortured, redemptive officer who must right the wrongs of the past and the present. Adding to the authenticity and beauty of this Cajun tale, five-time Grammy Award winner Buddy Guy appears and performs in the film. One final mystery still remains: will we see more of Dave Robicheaux, or will more adaptations be confined to the reader’s imagination? -- Lesley Puhrmann
Stills from In the Electric Mist (Click for larger image)
In the Electric Mist Reviews:
the modern south comes alive 
2009-11-04 - Tommy Lee Jones is an old school small town policeman.
When young women start showing up dead and badly cut up,
he has to investigate. A murder that he witnessed 40 years before plays a part
and he seems to have a time travel episode when
it seems like the case is going no where,
He meets a famous southern general who gives him fatherly advice,
which comes to think is his mind playing bad tricks on him.
The resulting movie is well made and keeps your attention,
but might not be very popular with a modern audience
as the plot forces you to think
about the system that still rules in the south.
about as good a movie based on J L Burke you're likely to see 
2009-11-03 - Burke's Robicheaux series is interesting for its themes, local color and revelation about the post-chilvaric south. Burke isn't a great writer; at times he overwrites and may wax eloquent about an old rocking chair on a porch for far longer than necessary. I suspect he hasn't followed Fitzgerald's dictum's of a writer sometimes having to 'kill his babies,' meaning the most elegant, expressive writing in a book may not fit the book and thus must be expunged to lend integrity to it. That being said, to take all the inner reflections--both emotional and philosophical--and to be able to interweave them with a rather complex narrative is done well in this movie by laconic dialogue that packs a punch, and includes a good use of voice over to get an insight into the protagonist's perspective of his world--one learned over decades as a citizen/observor and law enforcer. You really should read Burke's books first, even one, just to get a grip on his style as well as to understand the idioloic nature of the Louisiana accent and regionalism. Now I think Tommy Lee Jones does a good job as the lead, but he's not perfect--perhaps because no one could be perfect for to internalize the complexities of a character who has as many sides to him as Hamlet would require a lot of work, and the script simply does not provide that opportunity. A novel such as this one deserves a longer treatment. I can't imagine it being shorter than 135 minutes--needed to truly get into the world of the story which is the world of a culture both past and present, and a world of a man seeing his culture devolve into decadence and greed. BTW, note John Sayles as a Jewish movie producer with a bit of added padding and fairly good New Yawk kvetching.
Classic "Sleeper" 
2009-10-07 - Sliding right from a short run (if that) in theatres to DVD, the excellent "In the Electric Mist" is the quintessential "sleeper" film. Based on the James Lee Burke novel "In the Electric Mist of Confederate Dead", the movie finds Burke's Cajun detective Dave Robicheaux once again hot on the trail of a brutal killer. In addition to dealing with the current killing of a young prostitute, Robicheaux must address troubling memories of a murder he witnessed more than 40 years ago as boy, his daily grapple with alcoholism, and bizarre visions of conversations with Civil War Confederate General John Bell Hood, who gives him rather eliptical advice. Robicheaux (and the viewer) must decide if General Hood's presence in his life are merely reveries brought on by alcohol or a very real manifestation of the dead coming back to life in order to right a wrong. The latter assertion seems feasable, when one considers the mystical and magical ethic of rural Louisiana where the story unfolds. Tommy Lee Jones is brilliant as the troubled, flawed, but highly effective Robicheaux. One can't think of a better choice of actor. Filmed on location, director Tavernier brings the requisite "other-world" atmosphere to the table.
Disappointing Adaptation
2009-10-04 - Great cast, bad story editing. The writers/studio kept in most of the major plot points from the novel and sacrificed characterization and motivation (and believable solutions to crimes) to keep the movie under 2 hours. Big mistake. Important characters remain one-dimensional, ancillary crimes remain unsolved and--by the writers/filmmakers, at least--forgotten, and the lead character, Robicheaux, exists on two planes: violence and cynicism. In the novel, the characters are fully realized, interesting, believable. But every character in this movie--through no fault of the actors--seems little more than a plot device. Watching this movie, you get the feeling that at some point it was an excellent three hour movie, but that studio suits got hold of it and bled it out. Someone needs to tell them that you can't fit an entire novel into a 100 minute movie. You'd think that would be obvious by now.
Excellent James Lee Burke story comes to life
2009-10-01 - I orginally saw this movie on Netflix, watched it and then bought it from Amazon.
In addition to being a Tommy Lee Jones fan, I really enjoyed this story as it brought the Dave Robicheaux character and environment to life. Even though I had read the book, I had to watch the video three times to get all of the story's nuances. Also, if you have the option, I suggest you view this in Blu Ray, as the scenery is excellent. John Goodman is well cast and as someone else observed, would have made a good Clete Percel. The only caution is if you are not familiar with James Lee Burke and his imperfect Robicheaux character, this will only appear to be another detective story.
