Saturday, August 9, 2014

In the Electric Mist (2009)

Director: Bertrand Tavernier

Writers: Jerzy Kromolowski, Mary Olson-Kromolovski, James Lee Burke

Composer: Marco Beltrami

Starring: Tommy Lee Jones, John Goodman, Peter Sarsgaard, Mary Steenburgen, Kelly Macdonald, Justina Machado, Ned Beatty, James Gammon, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Levon Helm, Buddy Guy, John Sayles

More info: IMDb

Tagline: No one can escape the sins of the past.

Plot: A detective in post Katrina New Orleans area has a series of surreal encounters with a troop of friendly Confederate soldiers while investigating serial killings of local prostitutes, a 1965 lynching and corrupt local businessmen.



My rating: 7/10

Will I watch it again? No.

I lived in Louisiana for a while and there are things I miss about it.  I love the geography that's off the beaten path.  It's hot, steamy, miserable but there's something about it I really dig.  It's a great backdrop for this picture and they make great use of it.  It's got a great cast.  John Goodman plays a great baddie.  Tommy Lee Jones is playing it reserved but he's always fun to watch and there are so many great names in the cast like Steenburgen and Ned Beatty that just add to the flavor.  The picture moves pretty leisurely, much like life in that area.  It's one of those films you watch on a lazy afternoon when you want a nice and relatively quiet thriller.  I enjoyed it but it's not so engaging that I think I'll ever revisit it but it's worth a look.  Until I picked this up somewhere for a dollar I'd never heard of it.  The only extra on the Image DVD is the theatrical trailer which is surprisingly in 16:9.

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