In the Electric Mist

Infinite water surfaces of blind arms of the Mississippi River, mangrove forests, swamps, mosquitoes, black people, traditions, and a guilty conscience of skeletons in the closet. The film diligently and fairly successfully tries to evoke a typically southern atmosphere, but unfortunately, it is engulfed by an absolutely unmanageable and, one might say, impotent mysterious storyline that is disruptive and amusing instead of developing the story. Tommy Lee Jones is an experienced matador of American cinema, and his tough guys have an irreplaceable place in the crime thriller genre. Unfortunately, the overall impression is dull, and not only because of the hallucinogenic ideas about Civil War soldiers. It lacks drive, real tension, and simply added value. The nearly two-hour runtime could have been successfully cut down by at least 15 minutes. Overall impression: 55%. (09/07/2013)

Not as good as In the Valley of Elah or The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, but still an above average four-star mystery with great atmosphere. I love these slow-burning stories full of unpredictable characters. Tommy Lee Jones is of course not without his faults, but I was quite surprised by my favorite John Goodman in a very atypical gangster role. And Buddy Guy also made me happy. A chapter all on its own is the music by Marco Beltrami, who (just as for the aforementioned The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada) once again composed something great. And that final song... Hmmm. It's a pity that there a few unfinished things (the explanation of the mysterious shots from the car, for example), which I think were filmed, but probably ended up in the editing room. (09/07/2011)