In The Electric Mist (2008/Image Blu-ray + DVD-Video)
Picture:
C+ Sound: B-/C+ Extras: D Film: C+
James Lee
Burke is a noted Mystery writer, so it is no surprise that his work would
eventually become the subject of a feature film and more so than a TV
movie. His writing is so good that it
attracted no less than French director Bernard Tavernier (Coup De Torchon, ‘Round
Midnight) and that attracted some of the bets actors around in this tale of
murder, then and now, in New Orleans.
Tommy Lee Jones is very good as former, struggling alcoholic Dave
Robicheaux, a police officer faced with a crazy new murder that digs up a very
old one.
The new
ones are brutal and grizzly and as he investigates, a slacker actor (the
underrated Peter Sarsgaard) seems to have found the remains of an older murder
victim (a hate crime from the Old South) turned up by Hurricane Katrina! This leads Robicheaux on an odyssey that
brings him face to face with enemies old and new, including John Goodman
especially gritty and thankless as a gangster type. Until the end, the puzzle and performances
work, but the payoff does not, which disappointed me a bit. However, it is ambitious, has a smart screenplay
by Jerry & Mary Olson-Kromolowski (of the underrated The Pledge) and when you get a story that gives you all this, Mary
Steenburgen, Ned Beatty, Buddy Guy (who also participates in the music) and
John Sayles, it is worth your time to check it out at least once.
The 1080p
2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image is softer and noisier than expected despite
being shot in Fuji 35mm film by Director of Photography Bruno de Keyzer. I thought the anamorphically enhanced DVD was
soft because of the format, but the Blu-ray reveals more noise and grain and it
seems to be beyond the film stock. The
DTS-HD Master Audio (MA) lossless 5.1 mix on the Blu-ray is better than the Dolby
Digital 5.1 mix in both formats, though this is a dialogue-based film. Still, there is interesting ambiance in the
surrounds and Marco Beltrami delivers one of his more interesting scores. A trailer is the only extra, but this
deserved a bit more.
- Nicholas Sheffo
