I have been trying to find worthwhile movies on Netflix Instant to recommend. What with the price of movies in the theater nowadays you have to be the King of America (or at least that's what he wants people to call him) to afford it. Even Redbox starts to add up if you're not careful. So here is one I watched recently on Netflix Instant that I will recommend...
Into The Electric Mist: (2009) R (Crime/Mystery)
Starring Tommy Lee Jones, John Goodman, and Peter Sarsgaard
Overview - While shooting a new film in the bayou of Louisiana, fresh-faced actor Elrod Sykes (Sarsgaard) finds a skeleton wrapped in chains lying face down in a bog. Why would a skeleton be wrapped in chains? Now it's up to a fearless private investigator, David Robicheaux to find out what happened all those years ago. Does it also have a connection with a string of current murders?
Review - Tommy Lee Jones is one of the better actors that Hollywood has produced. I can not say I have seen a movie with him in it, that I have no liked. He is like the in-your-face uncle that you turn to when things are bad, because he is always willing to help. He plays Dave Robicheaux. A former minor league baseball player, who blew his chance at "the show" and found he had another gift. Investigating crimes. This story picks up many years after he has become a private investigator in the bayou of Louisiana. What always fascinates me is whenever a movie is set in the bayou, the movie always makes you feel like you are sweaty and about to be consumed by mosquitos. So when I see someone walking around in jeans and a sweatshirt I just have to wonder if it is just to protect themselves from the infantile bloodsuckers. And no, I am not talking about the Cullen family.
Elrod Sykes is a new-ish actor, who has been hired to star in a war movie that takes place in the swamps of Louisiana. One day he stumbles across a skeleton laying face down in the muck with a chain wrapped around it's midsection and arms. Our fearless investigator is on the case. He has his suspicions as to who might be behind the killing many years ago. To make matters worse, someone has been hiring and killing prostitutes over the last several weeks. Could it be the same guy? Tommy Lee Jones has always been one of my favorite actors. I think he plays a cunning investigator perfectly. Then again, he has played a cop and a US Marshall many times before. So the role is probably not all that unfamiliar to him. Some say he is what is known as a "typecast" which means that the actor/actress is only good at one particular role. A good example is Vin Deisel. He can pretty much only play a t-shirt wearing, gun toting, finger pointing thug. He's an action dude. You wouldn't want to see him play a 19th century diplomat, or a pirate. You would just laugh at him. I believe Jones can wear a great many hats. However, there are rolls in which I PREFER to see him. Like the roll of a cop, or a Marshall. He plays the roll well, and he gets you involved in the story.
John Goodman.....*sigh* If ever there were a bigger (no pun intended) example of the fact that just about anyone can become an actor, it's him. He portrays his role in this film to the best of his abilities, and he does an OK job. I just wish Hollywood would start weeding out actors who shouldn't be there in the first place. AKA Kristen Stewart and Rebel Wilson (just made a lot of people angry. Deal with it!).
The writing for this picture was done by Jerzy and Mary Olson-Kromolowski. The only other film they wrote was a movie starring Jack Nicholson called "The Pledge" back in 2001. I was not a fan of that one, but I think they will make me give them a second look from now on, after this film. The dialogue was well done. They had quite a few secondary characters, so you didn't quite know who the bad guy was, or how many bad guys there were. The ending had a bit of an almost boring twist. By boring, I don't mean bad. In today's media, we have been spoon-fed twist endings that always result in some dramatic hand-to-hand fight, or a crazy car chase, or even a gun shot from out of nowhere. In this one they wrap it up nicely, but in an almost predictable way. Which I actually felt was refreshing for a change.
Overall I will give it a 3 out of 5. I would recommend it for the Netflix Instant crowd. Especially because watching John Goodman makes you realize that you're actually pretty skinny. :-)
Things to watch out for...
1) It's rated R for swearing. Though I do not remember a ton of excessive swearing, I do remember some F-bombs flying from the uncomfortable looking mouth of Mr. Goodman.
2) They talk about "the old days" a lot, so the N-word is thrown around quite often regarding slaves. I know it's a derogatory term, but how many slang insults are thrown around in movies that get no media attention nowadays? Really.
3) There are boobs. There is one scene where we see a man in a boobie bar, and they get a side-boob shot of a woman pole-dancing. It lasts MAYBE 2 seconds, and it very forgettable.
I want to rant on something ya'll want me to see. Email me at entertandave@gmail.com and follow me on Twitter @entertaindave. Thus far I have had recommendations for reviewing "Titanic", "Zero Dark Thirty", and "Lincoln". I will get to those soon. Though that means I need to watch "Titanic" Again. No Bill Paxton. I'm not ready to go back to Titanic.
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