Big actors, small story in true-crime based ‘Texas Killing Fields’

“TEXAS KILLING FIELDS”

Blu-ray and DVD widescreen, 2011, R for violence and language including some sexual suggestions

Best extra: Commentary with director Ami Canaan Mann and writer Don Ferrarone

TWO SMALL TOWN detectives investigate several unsolved murders in the “Texas Killing Fields,” based on real cases of women abducted over four decades in the bayou country of Texas.

This movie had potential and an excellent cast including British action star Sam Worthington (“Avatar,”  2010’s “Clash of the Titans” and “Man on the Ledge”) as detective Mike Souder of Texas City. The role of partner Brian Heigh went to actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan (“Supernatural” and “Grey’s Anatomy”); he was quite good as the Comedian in Zack Snyder’s “Watchmen.” Both detectives are driven to do what’s right; Morgan’s character even prays for victims. 

Female supporting roles go to some of Hollywood’s best including teen sensation Chloë Grace Moretz, who was awesome as Hit-Girl in “Kick Ass” and as a teen vampire in “Let Me In.” Here she plays middle-schooler, Little Ann Sliger, stuck with a prostitute mother and a brother who hangs with the wrong crowd. Jessica Chastain, recently nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in “The Help,” plays Souder’s ex-wife and a detective in a nearby jurisdiction investigating a murder that could be tied to the other killings. 

The script from Don Ferrarone, a former Drug Enforcement Administration agent, is so disjointed it can’t be saved by director Ami Canaan Mann, daughter of action director Michael Mann.

The Blu-ray imagery is top-notch since Mann used the latest high-def video camera technology for the production, a big help during numerous night scenes. Her father was a pioneer in using HD cameras in lieu of traditional 35mm film. Veteran cinematographer Stuart Dryburgh (“The Piano”) orchestrated the gritty visuals. The uncompressed DTS HD soundstage is extremely active from front to back, especially when the bullets start blazing.

The commentary includes standard tidbits of interest: one shot, for example was completed after just four takes, with the final shot filmed by a camera attached to a golf cart.

Most of the movie was filmed in small towns outside New Orleans, with refineries in the background to create the right mood. Producers tried to make the movie and scenes authentic. Some of the character extras came right out of the local neighborhoods. The writer and director reference the real men they modeled their detectives after but don’t go in depth. 

Ferrarone and Mann are modest and talk more about the shots and the actors than themselves. They say they tried to stick closely to real details. “You’re sort of morally obliged to be as authentic as possible and as real as possible in creating the world,” Mann says.

An episode of CBS’ “48 Hours” (http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18559_162-20124020/the-real-life-mystery-of-...) – not included on the disc – is quite a revelation, providing context to the gruesome murders.

Writing about true crime can be compelling. Take Jerry Bledsoe’s 1988 novel, “Bitter Blood,” about the killings by lunatic Fritz Klenner in North Carolina and Kentucky. Still, the writing needs to explain who the characters are and show how they developed. “Texas Killing Fields,” fails to do that and big-name actors can’t overcome the lack of clear storytelling.

— Patrick Wilson

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