TEXAS KILLING FIELDS

     SAM WORTHINGTON  JEFFREY DEAN MORGAN  JESSICA CHASTAIN  CHLOE
     GRACE MORETZ

SET IN TEXAS CITY, TEXAS, THIS MOVIE FOLLOWS THE LIVES OF TWO HOMICIDE DETECTIVES, MIKE SOUDER (WORTHINGTON) AND BRIAN HEIGH (MORGAN) AS THEY TRY TO SOLVE NOT ONLY A MURDER IN THEIR OWN TOWN, BUT ALSO HELP OUT A FELLOW DETECTIVE, PAM STALL (CHASTAIN) AS SHE TRIES TO SOLVE A SERIES OF MURDERS OCCURRING IN THE BAYOUS, ALSO KNOWN AS THE KILLING FIELDS. 
THIS MOVIE SEEMS TO HAVE A LACK OF DIRECTION.  AFTER WATCHING IT I COULDN'T DECIDE IF IT WAS ABOUT THE DETECTIVES, ABOUT THE MURDERS OR ABOUT BOTH OF THEM.  THEY ARE BOTH COMPELLING STORIES AND IF THE DIRECTOR HAD CHOSEN ONE TO BE THE MAIN FOCUS, IT WOULD HAVE BEEN A LOT BETTER MOVIE. 
THE STORY ASIDE, THE ACTING WAS GENERALLY GOOD.   WORTHINGTON OVERACTED IN A FEW SCENES, MORGAN SEEMED ALMOST ASLEEP IN A FEW SCENES, CHASTAIN AS THE LONE FEMALE IN A MALE DOMINATED SOUTHERN WORLD WAS VERY GOOD, BUT MORETZ, AS LITTLE ANN, SHOWED ONCE AGAIN WHAT AN OUTSTANDING ACTOR SHE IS.  HER CHARACTER IS ABUSED AND NEGLECTED, AND SHE WAS ABLE TO EXPRESS HER FEELINGS INCREDIBLY WELL, SOMETIMES ONLY THROUGH A LOOK.
I ALSO LIKED THE FEEL OF THE MOVIE.  THE DIRECTOR WAS ABLE TO CAPTURE THE LONELINESS AND THE CREEPINESS OF THE BAYOUS, THE STARK CONTRAST OF HOW PEOPLE LIVED AND THE INTERACTIONS BETWEEN PEOPLE, RATHER IT BE RACIALLY MOTIVATED, POLICE--CRIMINAL OR JUST A FAMILY GET TOGETHER.  I WILL RECOMMEND THIS MOVIE, BUT WITH SOME RESERVATIONS.
RATING  2.5 out of 5