THE PLOT THUS FAR
In the Texas bayous, a local homicide detective teams up with a cop from New York City to investigate a series of unsolved murders.
WHAT WE THOUGHT
Detective Mike Souder 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 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 who resides with an abusive family, or Det. Souder’s former wife Detective Pam Stall, who polices a nearby community in which a Texan oil field known as the killing fields is situated.
Cops portrayed in movies are very often built around the idea that they have serious personal problems – they drink too much and have a ruined marriage behind them. Why do we see this so often? It makes their heroism bigger. They sacrifice everything they have in order to maintain justice. They often treat the potential criminals with lack of respect and hostility but we forgive them because we understand that the mean justifies the cause; they do it out of necessity. 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 Blu-Ray comes with audio commentary from the director and writer. The A/V Quality is a mixed bag due to cinematographer aesthetic and poor field of depth. The DTS-HD 7.1 master audio track blows away the transfer in terms of clarity which is weird to hear for a 1080p presentation. But, the HD trailer looks better than the main feature. I’d recommend a rental to people that were keen on paper-thin crime dramas.
RELEASE DATE: 01/31/2012
