Kevin Costner plays a serial killer named Mr. Brooks
Written: Jun 05 '07
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Product Rating:
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| Bang For The Buck |
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Pros: Original concept, good twists
Cons: Reminded me too much of the BTK killer
The Bottom Line: It's definitely worth seeing.
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| phungus's Full Review: Mr. Brooks |
Mr. Brooks stars Kevin Costner as a serial killer who is also a successful businessman, husband, and father. In both his personal and professional life, he seems like a perfectly normal guy, but he has a cruel addiction to murder and he can’t quite control the need to feed that addiction as often as possible.
Costner’s alter-ego is played by William Hurt, and the two discuss with each other whenever Mr. Brooks enters any kind of moral dilemma. Hurt is sort of like the little devil that sits on Costner’s shoulder, and he plays the part perfectly. Clever lighting combined with creepy dialogue and great acting really make Hurt look the part. If he can get an Oscar nomination for A History of Violence, I wouldn’t be surprised if he doesn’t get another one for this movie.
The story begins with Costner’s character fighting with his ‘little devil’ (Hurt) over whether or not to kill again. Apparently, they had their eye on a victim and have been trailing her for some time, but never got around to committing the crime. When Costner finally decides to kill ‘just one more time’ (a typical addict’s excuse) he makes one mistake. The victim was in the middle of having sex when Costner walks in, and Costner was so focused on the killing that he didn’t realize the couple had left the bedroom window open. After shooting both people, Costner closes the window and cleans up the crime scene.
The next day, a man (comedian Dane Cook in his first serious role) shows up at Costner’s office with photos of him at the crime scene. Cook had been photographing the couple having sex, so he also got photos of Costner’s character there at the time of the murder. When Costner asks Cook what he wants in return for the photos, Cook replies that instead of him going to the police, he wants Costner to take him along on the next murder so that he can see what it is like to kill someone.
Costner’s series of killings had earned him a nickname in the press, and the lead detective on the case is played by Demi Moore. She’s got personal problems of her own, as she is going through a nasty divorce while also being hunted by an escaped convict whom she had previously put into prison. With all of this going on, Mr. Brooks has to find a way to get rid of Cook without indentifying himself to the authorities. To do so requires a carefully constructed series of tricks and games that only someone as thorough and calculating as a serial killer could develop.
While this movie is not necessarily a horror film, I did find it to be genuinely creepy. It doesn’t have a bunch of killing in it, but rather turns into a psychological thriller about the mindset of a serial killer as well as the people who idolize them. This movie never took the Natural Born Killers approach about serial killers being treated like celebrities in the media, as Mr. Brooks was constantly trying to avoid any and all attention from the authorities.
I couldn’t help but be reminded of the real-life BTK serial killer while watching this film. That guy, who I will not name simply because he doesn’t deserve to be named, was also married and had children. He led a seemingly normal life, but was also addicted to the killing. With that in mind, I found this movie to be disturbing knowing there are really people like Mr. Brooks out there in the real world.
Kevin Costner was very good in his role as the intelligent killer he played. He used the type of calm presence he used to play Elliot Ness in The Untouchables, but he also had the horn-rimmed glasses look from JFK. Of course, the best scenes in the movie where when Costner interacted with William Hurt. Dane Cook, who previously has done silly comedies, was actually good as the disturbed young man who should have just gone to the authorities instead of get involved. Demi Moore didn’t have a very big part as the detective, but she was good in the role.
This movie is supposed to be the first part of a trilogy, and I think Moore’s character is supposed to have a much larger part in the later stories. Future sequels will probably depend on how well this movie does at the box office. It cleared over $10 million on its opening weekend, which is quite respectable considering all the big-budget competition. I really hope this movie does spawn at least one sequel, because there were a lot of things set in motion in this story that could lead to some interesting conclusions.
If you like thrillers with strong characters, I think you’ll like Mr. Brooks. It is a very atypical role for Kevin Costner, but he made it his own. It’s much better than any of the live-action cartoons I’ve seen so far this summer.
Recommended:
Yes
Movie Mood: Scary Movie
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