Basically “csi: East Texas,’’ the debut feature of Ami Canaan Mann is long on style and short on coherent storytelling, not unlike numerous efforts by her director dad, Michael, who serves as a producer here.
Sam Worthington of “Avatar,’’ struggling with a spurious Texas accent, and the always reliable Jeffrey Dean Morgan play hard-driving detectives tracking down a serial killer who dumps his victims inconveniently outside their territory.
The culprit’ s identity is ludicrously apparent, which doesn’t help our heroes in their quest to save the latest would-be victim, a wild child played by Chloe Grace Moretz (as the star of “Kick-Ass’’ prefers to be known these days).
“Texas Killing Fields’’ is the fifth 2011 release with the ubiquitous Jessica Chastain, cast as Worthington’s cop ex-wife. Here Chastain confirms the impression she gave in “The Debt’’ — her future may be bright, but it does not lie in the field of action movies.