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113 of 115 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Must-See for Robicheaux Fans, March 3, 2009
This is the second film adaptation of one of James Lee Burke's Dave Robicheaux series, the first being "Heaven's Prisoners" with Alec Baldwin horribly miscast as Robicheaux. In this film, Tommy Lee Jones is perfectly cast as Robicheaux, capturing all the nuance of the literary character: the alcoholic obsessions, the need to impose justice, his essential toughness and goodness. This is a pretty faithful adaptation of the novel, and captures the flavor of the books, as well as the Louisiana settings. In all honesty, this was almost exactly how I'd pictured it from reading the books. But a caveat: if you haven't read the books, you're probably not going to enjoy this movie, which is probably why in the USA it was released directly to DVD. Burke's novels are very introspective, which makes for interesting literature, but slow movies. There's plenty of drama, with several murders, corruption, and depravity to spare. But the books - and this movie - are at their hearts character studies of the Robicheaux character. This is more akin to "Smilla's Sense of Snow" than "Dirty Harry". I loved it; your mileage may vary.
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44 of 46 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not the Director's Cut but Still Very Entertaining, March 3, 2009
In the Electric Mist marks legendary French filmmaker Bertrand Tavernier's first North American-made motion picture and, based on the troubles he encountered while making it, perhaps his last. Tavernier, a big fan of American crime fiction (he previously adapted Jim Thompson's Pop. 1280 into Coup de Torchon - Criterion Collection), jumped at the chance to bring James Lee Burke's bestselling novel In the Electric Mist with Confederate Dead to the big screen. However, reports surfaced that Tavernier and the film's star, Tommy Lee Jones, did not get along, and the producers were not happy with the director's version. As a result, the version released on DVD in North America is the producers' cut and not Tavernier's. Tavernier does an excellent job capturing the local color of the area in the scenes where protagonist Dave Robicheaux (Tommy Lee Jones) canvases the locals. The entire film was shot on location and this only enhances the authenticity of the story's setting which is rich in atmosphere - also helped by the liberal use of blues and zydeco music. The cinematography has a textured quality to it that really brings out the lushness of the region. The cast is outstanding with Tommy Lee Jones doing his patented gruff yet savvy lawman, Peter Sarsgaard portraying a boozy actor, and John Goodman as a scene-stealing mobster with a genial facade that barely masks a threatening demeanor. The cast is rounded out by fascinating veteran character actors like Mary Steenburgen, Pruitt Taylor Vince and Ned Beatty. Despite the production and post-production problems that plagued the film, this version is engaging and entertaining but one still wonders what Tavernier's original cut is like. Sadly, the only special features are a theatrical trailer but considering the bad blood between director and the producers this is hardly suprising.
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55 of 62 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Well Casted but only for those who have read the books, January 19, 2009
I am a huge fan of James Lee Burke's Dave Robicheaux books. I have read most of them and most of them have been top notch. Unlike most series, Burke's actually gets better and better and just when you think its peaked, he writes something better. Having read so many of the books, I always pictured either Harrison Ford, Alec Baldwin (in his younger, lighter days) and Tommy Lee Jones as Dave. 2/3 predictions have come true. Tommy Lee Jones is the perfect David Robicheaux, this character was meant for him to play. In the Electric Mist is one of the best books in the series, so how come with a great book and great casting the movie is only ok? The problem is the movie itself is very very inside. The screen writers did too good a job adapting the story from the book. Remember the book is a middle book of a very long running series. As a fan and reader of the series, I knew who everyone was and how they got there. The problem for the mass audience will be that they will have no idea who half the people are and the film does not really give any answers. This unfortunately will be a film liked by those who have read the books, and not fully understood by those who have not. Twice filmakers have well casted and made well intentioned adaptations of the books, and twice they have not come through as they should have.
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