Texas Killing Fields (2011)

Originally scheduled for the director Danny Boyle in 2008, but when the British-born filmmaker abandoned the project a year later, based on the murders of young women in a Texan oil field known to the locals as the 'Killing Field,' Ami Canaan Mann, the daughter of the acclaimed director Michael, took over the directorial helm of the Sam Worthington vehicle the 'Texas Killing Fields'. Mann's feature-film debut is a flat, slow police procedural drama that fails to utilize the acting talent at hand and instead relies entirely upon a stale script. 'Texas Killing Fields' would make for a barely competent television drama, but as a theatrical release, it falls incredibly short of being engaging entertainment for the big-screen.

Detective Mike Souder (Sam Worthington) is a local Texan police officer who believes extensively in only working on cases in his own town's jurisdiction, while his partner Detective Brian Heigh (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) is a former New York City police officer who can't but help others in their time of need. Whether it is a young girl named Anne (Chloe Moretz) who resides with an abusive family, or Det. Souder's former wife Detective Pam Stall (Jessica Chastain), who polices a nearby community in which a Texan oil field known as the killing fields is situated. When Pam requests the help of Heigh in the recent disappearance and murder of women within the confines of the killing fields, he reluctantly obliges, despite the objections of his partner due to their own case against two low-life pimps who are systematically kidnapping and forcing teenage girls into a life of prostitution. What follows, is two differing journeys as both men attempt to bring the guilty to justice through their own, loose methods.

Sam Worthington's Detective Souder is a brash, uncompromising individual who rarely comforts, but always intimidates, even when he is simply taking a statement from a young, teenage victim. It is briefly suggested that this distance and animosity originates from a rough upbringing, but it is never explored in any suitable detail, and Souder instantly comes across as an unlikeable character that is unable to redeem the glaring flaws in his personality by the conclusion of the picture. The same can also be said for Jeffrey Dean Morgan's performance as a likable and hard-working detective, despite a good performance from Morgan, he is entirely clichéd in his traits and comes across as a one-dimensional cardboard cut-out. The only encouraging performance of the piece comes from the surprisingly mature Chloe Moretz, who at only fourteen years of age has already established herself as young, up and coming actress.

Aside from the acting and the lack of characterisation, the other glaring flaw of 'Texas Killing Fields' is the complex narrative at the heart of the picture, while Souder is investigating Rule (Jason Clarke) and Levon (Jon Eyez) over the kidnapping and forced prostitution of runaway teenage girls, Heigh is helping Detective Stall investigate the killing fields, and the story of a neglected teenager in Little Anne is also thrown in their for good measure. With so many different narrative streams taking place all at once it is easy to become confused about what is exactly taking place on-screen, who is being interviewed and what criminal case they are actually discussing or investigating. On more than one occasion the editing compliments this confusion by cutting needlessly to a scene or character unrelated to the previous sequence with

Fmovies: OK.

Mumbling, yes. about as much as Run Baby Run. Archetypal characters, well, tick, but then this is the US.

Personally, I liked it. I didn't expect to, but it was OK. They did a 'Coen brothers-y' thing, not really explaining the back story.

OK. Maybe the two male leads have similar attitudes to women and to their abusers as I do, so maybe that biases me, but I don't think that's all.

I think this has a body. Brains, guts, and a spine. The minor parts are well cast and directed, and the three leads rock.

I'm a bit surprised how slated this has been on IMDb.

I liked it, OK? So sue me....

"Texas Killing Fields" is based upon true events: the murders of young women who are dumped in a Texan oil field known to the locals as the Texas Killing Fields, really a bayou. In an early scene, a trapped waif –a young teen-aged girl – stands alone in the darkness in the parking lot of a convenience store. In reality she has nowhere safe to go, and the feeling is one of trepidation.

At movie's beginning, two women are discovered dead, or at least one is. A woman's car is found with her personal effects in the killing field. Her driver's license identifies her as blonde Kirsten lane. Later on her body will be found. The other – a dark-haired prostitute – is discovered in a vacant lot in the city. Both murders have been committed by two different sets of suspects unknown to each other. So the cases are different. But the viewer does not initially know this information. In fact, more than once the movie editing adds to confusion by cutting needlessly to a scene or character unrelated to the previous sequence without any clarification. The disjointed manner of shooting by director Ami Canaan Mann (Michael Mann's daughter) often makes this feature a frustrating, incoherent narrative.

Bearded New York transplant and levelheaded Brian Heigh (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and his local, hot-tempered and intimidating partner Mike Souder (Sam Worthington) discover the body of the aforementioned young prostitute. Right after Mike's tough ex-wife Pam Stall (Jessica Chastain, in another subplot) – also a cop – requests the help of Brian in the recent disappearance and murder of women within the confines of the killing fields. Brian reluctantly obliges, despite the objections of partner Mike due to their own case against two low-life flesh-peddlers who are systematically kidnapping and forcing teenage girls into a life of prostitution. Mann's film mires itself in a procedural plot involving Brian and Mike trailing these two suspects, pimp Levone (Jon Eyez) and his menacing, bare-armed, heavily tattooed cohort Rule (Jason Clarke), both of whom are heavily implicated in the prostitute's murder. All the while Brian, who just cannot stop helping others in need, keeps an eye out for Little Ann Sliger (Chloë Grace Moretz), a decent but mildly delinquent teen – the above-mentioned trapped waif – trying to survive life at a wretched home with a toxic, dysfunctional family. These members include low-life mom Lucie (Sheryl Lee), criminal brother Eugene Sliger (James Hébert), and her menacing boyfriends, especially chilling Rhino (Stephen Graham). Lucie has instructed daughter Ann to disappear when she has certain men hanging around the house. The denouement will be one of no-nonsense brutality, although flirting with implausibility.

To reiterate, various narrative streams often occur all at once, so it is easy to become confused about what is exactly taking place on- screen. On appositive note, the atmosphere is sufficiently gritty with its haunting landscape: the feeling of dread permeates everywhere. The acting, especially by Chloë Grace Moretz, is fine, but Worthington's accent is often difficult to comprehend. You will probably need to utilize your TV's closed-caption option to understand his words. At movie's end, the survival of one of the detectives is surprising and unrealistic. An inexplicable loose end concerns the fate of one of the bad guys, who outlives the picture. You may have to watch this one more than once to capture full understanding.

Texas Killing Fields fmovies. This film might not ever find its audience but that doesn't mean it wasn't a great film. There was something so unnerving about this film. It had its flaws but that was overlapped by an amazing cast and acting. Disregard the negative reviews and give it a chance if you want a crime thriller with deep. Sam Worthington's performance was intense. He bought an underlining perspective to his role. A character bonded by this upbringing and an intuition about the nature of "The Killing Fields". Even if the film was only loosely based on the book it still gave a horrific tale of a place where nothing grows. Not sure what happened with Danny Boyle. Not even sure if he would have brought much to this particular story. He is still one of my favorite directors but this would have been a disaster.

It's difficult to understand why this film was made. And I don't mean that as a commentary on the overall quality of the movie at all. Yes it is a pretty straightforward serial killer/crime drama containing average (and some below average) piece of acting. At the end of the movie however, the question remains, why was this made? If the purpose was to introduce us to the geography of the fields, there are better mediums to do that. If the purpose was to tell a gripping tale of mystery and suspense, that doesn't happen either. If it wanted to make us empathize with the very real plight of detective work in grim everyday condition, it doesn't go there. And lastly if the purpose was to throw some light on the case itself or to enable us to identify with the horrors that the victims faced, the movie simply ignores it. So, why was this film made? The story is told listlessly, almost as if the director has no interest in telling it. Sam Worthington is a cliché of hothead cop characters and the good cop bad cop routine he plays out with Jeffery Dean Morgan adds nothing to the cinematic experience. The character of Chloë Grace Moretz tries too hard to portray the role written for in the script. At the end she comes out as irritating, something I am sure the director did not intended to portray. It's not her fault though, her skill is flawless, she simply doesn't know what she is doing and why. Jessica Chastain looks beautiful and handles her limited role quiet well. That is not to say that this film is bad, it is just so average in everything it does that it all boils down to the purpose of making it.

I was sort of hanging for this film, great cast, story line that can make for great viewing, and I like the setting of the story as well. And after another lackluster year when it comes to entertainment on the big screen, I thought this could be great!

Well sadly to say it is messy, when it comes to this kind of cop film, you need direction, some one that can tell the story at a good pace, connect all the dots, get you engrossed in the mood of the film, make you sit and wait for more clues and so on, but this film lacks all of that.

Sure the acting is solid, but I expected that with the good cast, but it just does not flow at a good pace, it jumps over some dots that should be connected to make you feel you are part of the characters, and that's where this film is messy, hence my score of 5, sort of sits in the middle.

Nothing special, but not bad either, 5 out of 5 for this one.