Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

Usamah Harvey The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Rosie Searle It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Janis One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

mikedawson-97635 The theme of the film is both state of mind of the detective who is trying to solve two murder cases simultaneously and the cases themselves. If you like movies that question the way we perceive things and how they change due to our level of consciousness then this film is worth watching.

Robert J. Maxwell 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.

paul2001sw-1 French director Betrand Tavernier usually makes (excellent) films in his own language; but 'In The Electric Mist' is set in deepest Lousiana, and not the Cajun-speaking part either. It's a solid police procedural, but it never rises to the heights of Tavernier's greatest work: one by one, the bodies mount up, strangely without causing anyone but the hero exceptional concern, while the overall portrait of the deep south is somewhat clichéd, a racist place (although the real villains are more misanthropist than particularly racist) but one where the ghost of a confederate general is somehow also a symbol of honour and decency. Tommy Lee Jones puts in a decent turn in the lead role, and I also liked the soundtrack (though it sounded more like mountain than bayou music to me). It's a watchable film, but not one that takes its viewer in any surprising directions.

ctomvelu1 Jones picks up where Alec Baldwin left off, playing James Lee Burke's Louisiana-based detective Dave Robicheaux. This time around, Robicheaux is hot on the trial of a killer of hookers as well as the killer of a black man decades ago. He soon comes to believes the deaths are linked, and is guided along the way by a long-dead Confederate officer (Helm). He also is aided by a female FBI agent. The entire cast, which also includes John Goodman as one of the bad guys and Mary Steenbergen as Robicheaux's wife, is excellent. However, this is not your typical slam-bang whodunit but more of a character study. Shot on location, post-Hurricane Katrina, it absolutely oozes atmosphere and a sense of authenticity. It is for the most part very low-key. I understand there were post-production problems, and it shows in the choppy editing. Stil, worth a look.