Mr. Brooks (2007)

This by far is Kevin Costner's best film he has been in about 15 years. Costner plays "Mr. Brooks" who leads a double life. On the outside he is a successful businessman and loving family man, on the inside, he struggles with his addiction, his addiction to murder. For about two years he has been able to resist until he listens to his alter ego (played devilishly by William Hurt) to play again. He then goes into the apartment of a couple and proceeds to kill both of them.

The next day he is visited by Mr. Smith, who blackmails him to take him to his next killing. All the while he is being followed by a detective trying to solve the "thumb print murders" and juggles his personal life which is thrust into turmoil. His daughter "drops out of school" and is pregnant, but is that all of it? Soon he discovers she shares the same addiction and sickness as he does and out of compassion "fixes" her situation as well as his own predicament. What to do with and about Mr. Smith? Fulfilling his promise to Mr. Smith he takes him on his next job and decides he wants Mr. Smith to end his suffering and make him disappear, but is this the true end of Mr. brooks?

This one will keep you on your toes, on the edge of your seat and guessing until the end. I haven't personally seen a film executed this well in many years, by far the best Costner has done in a decade, and I wish he would do more films of this caliber more often. A great script, cast and great performances played deliciously by both Costner and Hurt. This one is not to be missed, and I promise you won't be disappointed.

***1/2

Bruce A. Evans' "Mr. Brooks" deserves praise for at least bringing a certain degree of freshness to the well-worn serial-killer genre.

Kevin Costner portrays Earl Brooks, a devoted husband and father and the recent recipient of the Man of the Year Award from the city of Portland, Oregon for his work as a successful businessman. He also just happens to be a cold-blooded murderer, known to the media and the law enforcement community as the Fingerprint Killer, so named because he leaves that telltale sign behind at each of his crime scenes (we must assume it is not his own fingerprint, although the script never actually spells that out for us). As the movie opens, Brooks hasn't killed anyone for two years, having chosen to resist the temptation by attending AA meetings and focusing on his wife and daughter. However, lately, Brooks has begun to succumb to the pull of his "addiction," once again allowing his darker angel to lure and goad him into seeking out unsuspecting victims as a means of alleviating the pressure.

What separates "Mr. Brooks" from all other previous serial-killer thrillers is that it has chosen to actually incarnate that bad angel on screen in the form of an unnerving William Hurt, who appears by Brooks' side at strategic moments in the movie to advise, berate and commiserate with Brooks as he contemplates his next homicidal action. Generally, in these movies, we rarely get a sense of the intense mental struggle taking place within the deeply disturbed, psychotic mind of the killer. Through the use of Hurt's character (referred to by Brooks as Marshall), however, the writers, Evans and Raynold Gideon, are able to verbalize that conflict and show us the two warring factions co-existing within this single warped psyche. Despite the absurdity of it, Brooks truly believes that his "condition" can be "cured" if he regularly and faithfully attends a self-help group for alcoholics. Thus, against our better judgment, perhaps, we find ourselves almost feeling sorry for the man, a position one rarely finds oneself in in a tale such as this one.

The complex plot also includes a wannabe young killer (Dane Cook) who blackmails Brooks into taking him out on his next killing spree; an expert homicide investigator (Demi Moore) who was investigating the Fingerprint Killer case until the trail turned cold; and Brooks' own college-aged daughter, Jane (Danielle Panabaker), who may have inherited her dad's killer "gene" and might just possibly have a murder or two of her own to account for.

The storyline may not always pass the credibility threshold (particularly in the suggestion that psychosis might have a genetic component and can be passed down from generation to generation), but the cleverness of the approach and the genuine creepiness of many of the scenes go a long way towards mitigating the imperfections. Moreover, Costner, Hurt, Moore and Cook give spellbinding performances as the killer and the various persons and pseudo-persons caught in the bloody web he has woven.

Working as a team, Costner and Hurt bring complementary opposing qualities to their roles which, when taken together, add up to a single, well-rounded character. In a complex variation on the Jekyll and Hyde, Faust and Mephistopheles dichotomy, Costner conveys the poignancy and vulnerability of the "good" Brooks, while Hurt shows us the steely-eyed cold-heartedness of the "bad" Brooks. Yet, there are times when even those roles switch, as when Costner coldly laughs at the prospect of a victim's potential suffering and Hurt provides words of comfort to a hurting Costner.

Together, the two talented stars create a complex symbiotic relationship that lifts "Mr. Brooks" several rungs above the ordinary.

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If it hadn't been for the dumbest cop ever born (the one played by Demi Moore), this would have gotten one more star.

Anyway, Costner does a marvelous job as a tormented serial killer addicted to thrill killing while also holding down a great job and doting on his wife and daughter. The daughter, however, may be a budding serial killer herself, and he wants to save her from becoming like her father.

William Hurt also is in full creepy mode as a manifestation of Costner's dueling personality, while comedian Dane Cook plays a would-be killer who wants Costner to tutor him in how to do it and not get caught.

There is some intrusive techno music and a Matrix-like hallway shoot-out that could have been done better. However, these are quibbles. I had a bigger problem with Moore's distracting divorce battle, impulsiveness, and general arrogance.

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Mr. Brooks has a Man of the Year award, a loving family, some seemingly-mundane hobbies, and a little nickname the papers like to use calling him: "The Thumbprint Killer." Only they don't call HIM the killer; they just refer to some of the handy work he seems to have left behind and this addiction keeps him killing. He doesn't like to do it, mind you, going to AA meetings because he is trying to keep his addiction in check. Still, an addiction is an addiction is an addiction and relapses to occur. His latest relapse, a dancer he sees and her lover, change things when something changes in his pattern.

Namely, a loose end comes to visit and builds a world within his world by asking him to show off what killing is made of.

And that's where things get started.

When I first rented the movie, I didn't expect that much. Costner is oftentimes hit-or-miss and, frankly, I was afraid he would miss in this role. Happily I have to say I was wrong, with Costner making an excellent killer and also kicking it in a dual role. One of the many things Costner showcases in this movie is the way he can play with the mentality within a role here Mr. Brooks has an imaginary friend we are lucky enough to see and the two of them share laughs and plans and suspicions on what is what. Honestly these are some of the best scenes in the business, making you really like Mr. Brooks and appreciate his humor. Costner does great work making Mr. Brooks a sympathetic character, too, with his murderous life balanced well by a family he sees to really love.

Along the way, we pick up a counterpart to Costner, one Demi Moore, and she does some good work in this venture, too. I was equally surprised by this because I didn't expect to be able to take her seriously in any sort of way as an officer, much less an officer with a plethora of secrets. One of those things is a little bit of a distraction, mind you, one called The Hangman, but that just seems to be a little piece of a giant puzzle trying to keep the audience engaged.

I'm glad the writers at least remembered that Mr. Brooks was the focal point of the tale.

For people wanting some hardcore murder, this is a mainstream piece and doesn't offer up a thick helping of doom. It does have its moments and it does have its beauty, and it should still offer up something to that side of the spectrum. People who don't like graphic horror should be able to keep on keeping on with their watching, able to love Costner and able to watch some death together.

I liked the movie it had a lot to give to and think people should check it out.

Want Mr. Brooks (2007) Discount?

Please stay out of my neighborhood. If you are looking for entertainment with excellent acting, this movie is for you. Kevin Costner and William Hurt are in their prime in this movie. The content of the movie is about a man obessesed with killing and then finds out he has passed that obessesion down to his daughter. I am apprehensive to say it is a good movie because of the content but as far as acting and drama with suspense...it is a good movie.

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