Review of In the Electric Mist (2009) by Walter M — 12 Nov 2009

In "In the Electric Mist," Dave Robicheaux(Tommy Lee Jones) is a recovering alcoholic and police detective living in rural Iberia Parish, exiled from his native New Orleans, with his wife(Mary Steenburgen) and daughter(Alana Locke). With one dead body to investigate, he stops movie star Elrod Sykes(Peter Sarsgaard) for speeding and drunk driving.(What is it with Peter Sarsgaard and red sports cars lately? Or am I just having one of those weeks?) To lessen the DUI charge, he tells Dave about a second body, one that has been dead for at least decades, and recently uncovered by Hurricane Katrina. With no further information to go on, Dave interrogates Julius 'No relation to Steve' Balboni(John Goodman), a local crime boss, just because he is so scummy.

Directed by Bertrand Tavernier, "In the Electric Mist" is something of a disappointment, considering the talent involved(also including Kelly Macdonald, Ned Beatty & Pruitt Taylor Vince), reducing what could have been a rich and complex story to the level of a routine detective story through a pedestrian handling of the material. Even with this cast, John Sayles steals a couple of scenes as an egotistical director but this does not mean he should give up his day job. What the film is concerned with is the New South and how its past continues to haunt the present(sometimes literally) and cannot hope to escape it. And the Civil War movie is not helping matters. What's most striking is this is the most racist invective I have heard in a movie in a long time, not a good sign towards the future, as is the character of Dave Robicheaux, a rogue detective. Sorry but I guess I am just a stickler for due process.

Note: Ned Beatty and John Goodman were also involved in a fictional murder investigation in Louisiana in "The Big Easy.".