Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		1.0
Overall		2.5

Texas Killing Fields Blu-ray Movie Review

The same thing that's on every network, every night.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman January 9, 2012

Texas Killing Fields is the feature-length movie version of all of the alphabet soup crime scene television shows that have dominated the airwaves of the past decade or so. It's the same old story of detectives on the case, dead bodies, a parade of suspects, and a little girl in peril, all unmercifully dragged out to twice the size of its small-screen counterparts and with no more flair, purpose, or scope than may be found in any random episode of any number of like-minded television shows. In essence, Texas Killing Fields is a soulless police procedural that's destined to become lost within the mountain of every other soulless crime scene story to come along of late. Director Ami Canaan Mann, daughter of acclaimed filmmaker Michael Mann (Collateral, Heat), tries to infuse the movie with some style -- and she occasionally succeeds -- but the jumbled story, subpar acting, choppy pacing, and thematically vacant elements add up to a slog of a picture that's at its best a dispassionate time killer and at its worst a generic sloth that brings not one single new thing to the table.

Crime scene investigation.

Texas City, Texas detectives Mike Souder (Sam Worthington) and Brian Heigh (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) are investigating another in a string of murders, this victim lying in their jurisdiction, others ending up in a nearby oil field outside their jurisdiction. Souder is a hard, determined Texas native cop who wants results no matter which course of action he must take. Heigh is a New York transplant with a mysterious history who's taken on something of a fatherly role over a young local named Anne (Chloë Grace Moretz) who lives a distressed life with her unsavory mother Lucie (Sheryl Lee). As the body count mounts, Souder's ex-wife, Detective Pam Stall (Jessica Chastain), urges Souder and Heigh to aid her in her investigation, a move the former rejects and the latter supports. With pieces of the puzzle falling into place, suspects identified, and potential victims pegged, Souder and Heigh must come together, despite their divergent styles and backgrounds, if they are to crack the case and save as many lives as possible.

Texas Killing Fields begins with a stylish and darkly alluring open, but it quickly becomes evident that such superior elements are to be the exception rather than the rule. Sadly, this film lacks rhythm to the point that its cadence is nearly unidentifiable. Perhaps its the generic plot line, the subpar acting, or any number of problems, but whatever the culprit -- or, more likely, culprits -- the film never engages the audience, never challenges them to become a part of the story, to care about the outcome, to seek out the answers to the questions it poses and resolutions to the situations it produces. The film plays with a cold, detached, and heartless feel. It meanders about, embracing one generic crime scene and police procedural element after another, none of which prove capable of sparking a flame, shifting the movie into a higher gear. Texas Killing Fields cruises along methodically in slow linear fashion, showing a flash here and there of something better on the periphery but nothing that impacts the meat and potatoes doldrums of the movie's systematic march towards genre mediocrity.

Perhaps worst is the film's character roster. Few movies, outside of those epically bad bottom feeders that feature poor special effects, actors who were semi-hot properties fifteen years prior, and plots that rip off superior fare, manage to paint such an uninteresting group as there is in Texas Killing Fields. Backstories are both hinted at and discussed, but barely register as important to the plot, let alone critical. Much of the character development is at best cursory filler. These are generic nobodies who suit the plot just enough to keep the movie moving and competent. There's no reason to cheer for them other than for which side of the law they fall, and no reason to despise them other than for which side of the law they fall. Character complexity, motive, or history play no meaningful role in the greater whole, though not for an admirable effort to the contrary. Everything about them is straight by the book, the same of which may be said of the entire production. Texas Killing Fields is superficially well put together, but few mid-major movies such as this manage to be otherwise so sparse in every critical area.

Texas Killing Fields Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Texas Killing Fields features a good, but not quite great, 1080p Blu-ray transfer. Much of the movie takes place at night or in very dark locales. Strong blacks are critical to the movie's visual structure, and often the Blu-ray does not disappoint. There are certainly a few instances where black objects and shadows meld together into a swampy, undefined substance, but generally blacks are deep, with quality shadow detailing and an aversion to going a shade of dark gray. The movie also looks better, generally, at night. Though the lower light and lesser colors don't produce much vibrancy, the image is here nevertheless stable and filmic in appearance. Bright daytime scenes tend to show strong clarity but also a general flatness, though fine detail in clothes, faces, and worn-down Texas City residences look awfully good. Colors, here, are nicely balanced across the board. On a more general downside, light shimmering is evident once on a bug zapper and again on a striped shirt. Minor banding spreads across faces in a couple of scenes, but otherwise, the transfer proves technically proficient. All told, this is another solid, above-average transfer from Anchor Bay.

Texas Killing Fields Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Texas Killing Fields arrives on Blu-ray with a strong Dolby TrueHD 7.1 lossless soundtrack. Music features fair clarity and spacing, along with a good, solid low end accompanying element. Music does remain a job reserved primarily for the front speakers. However, the back channels get in on the action when the track calls for ambient elements, which is often. Passing cars, buzzing insects, rustling leaves, heavy rain, and other, varied environmental elements are often presented cleanly and efficiently, effectively pulling the listener into the film's various locales. Gunshots vary from crisp and accurate to heavy and over-exaggerated. Dialogue remains focused in the front center channel and plays with the expected faultless clarity. This is by no means a special or memorable track, but it admirably accomplishes all that's asked of it with little problem and no hesitation.

Texas Killing Fields Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Only the Texas Killing Fields trailer (1080p, 2:13) and an audio commentary track with Director Ami Canaan Mann and Writer Donald F. Ferrarone are included.

Texas Killing Fields Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Texas Killing Fields really tries to be something of value, but it falls short of that goal in most every regard. Rather than something novel and exciting, the film is just a double-long rehash of the tired crime scene genre. It lacks a soul to be sure, though its heart is often in the right place. Pacing is sluggish, the plot is ragged, the characters are flat, and the movie's few moments of visual and thematic relevance are washed away by a greater whole that comes up well short of the mark, a whole that's nothing audiences haven't seen a hundred times before on a dozen different television shows. Anchor Bay's Blu-ray release of Texas Killing Fields features good video and audio, but only one supplement. Skip it.