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Feature | 6.5 | ||
Video | 7.9 | |||
Audio | 7.6 | |||
Special Features | 0.0 | |||
Total | 6.6 | |||
Distributor: Madman Classification: MA15+ Minutes: 117 minutes Reviewer: Peter Kent |
6.6 |
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Not even Tommy Lee Jones can save In the Electric Mist from mediocrity and although I desperately tried to like this film, I was lost in its convoluted plot and even fell asleep once, causing me to re-watch the entire movie just to know what was happening. Damn it! The story revolves around an ageing Louisiana detective called Dave Robicheaux who unfortunately has trouble with alcohol and spends too much of his time investigating, rather than spending it with his wife and adopted child. When a Hollywood company sets up camp in his town much to Robicheaux’s disgust, one of the actors (Peter Sarsgaard) discovers the remains of a man who was killed over 40 years. This case may also be linked to his current investigation that sees a number of prostitutes murdered and the leads are pointing to Baby Feet Balboni (John Goodman), a former friend of Dave and the person funding this Hollywood production. As Robicheaux investigates both cases, he soon has visions of Confederate Soldiers that is quite reminiscent of Twin Peaks who assist him in pointing him in the right direction but leaves the question to the viewer, whether our hero is actually going insane. The biggest problem with In the Electric Mist is that the characters and the plots seemed mashed together with no real links or substance. This in turn makes the entire story quite disjointed and when you’re hoping that the story will move onto the main plot, another subplot or character is introduced to make the movie a turmoil of confusion. One highlight of the movie is Tommy Lee Jones who successfully manages to portray his character well, it’s just a shame that the story does not back him up because everything was there for a great movie but conception failed. The video quality looks good on DVD and the colours suits the cinematography of Louisiana with some artifacting in the darker scenes. The Dolby Digital 5.1 sound is clean and crisp but unfortunately this is one of those movies that needs to be turned up because it seems that the audio levels of the actors is a little low. At the end of the day, In the Electric Mist could have been an interesting thriller, however the excessive subplots and inconsistencies of the story make the movie quite disappointing. |