Costner gives a nicely underplayed performance and the film is well enough made to be watchable, if only to find out what enormity will be perpetrated next, and by whom.
Mr. Brooks (2007)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:149
Fresh:83
Rotten:66
Average Rating:5.7/10
Consensus: The setup is intriguing, but Mr. Brooks overstuffs itself with twists and subplots, becoming more preposterous as it goes along.
Rated: 18 [See Full Rating] for strong bloody violence, some graphic sexual content, nudity and language.
Runtime: 2 hrs
Genre: Detectives, Switching Roles, Thriller, Murder, Theatrical Release, Crime, Serial Killers
Theatrical Release:12-10-2007
Synopsis: Kevin Costner stars as Earl Brooks, a man whose seemingly perfect family and status in the community hide an ugly secret. Brooks constantly says the plea of an addict--the Serenity Prayer--but he's... Kevin Costner stars as Earl Brooks, a man whose seemingly perfect family and status in the community hide an ugly secret. Brooks constantly says the plea of an addict--the Serenity Prayer--but he's not in the grip of drugs or alcohol. Instead, his neat little bow tie belies a man with an urge to kill. Though he's staved off that desire for two years, it has returned thanks to the efforts of his evil inner voice (William Hurt, A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE). He is caught in the act by a man who calls himself Mr. Smith (Dane Cook, EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH), but Mr. Smith doesn't want to turn Brooks in. The smarmy amateur photographer wants to learn from Brooks's methodical ways and become a killer himself. Meanwhile, a tough cop (Demi Moore, BOBBY) hunts for the man responsible for deaths all over Portland while she deals with issues in her own life. MR. BROOKS presents a fascinating portrait of a man at war with himself. As the devil on Brooks's shoulder, Oscar winner Hurt adeptly alternates between menace and glee, adding to a resume already replete with varied roles. Though Costner is mostly known for playing nice guys (FIELD OF DREAMS) and charming rogues (BULL DURHAM), his performance as the tortured killer is interesting to watch, and he rises to the challenge of playing a completely different character than the kind he is known for. MR. BROOKS is an engaging thriller that goes into the fractured mind of a murderer, while also delivering an intriguing maze of multiple subplots. [More]
Starring: Kevin Costner, William Hurt, Demi Moore, Dane Cook
Starring: Kevin Costner, William Hurt, Demi Moore, Dane Cook, Marg Helgenberger, Jason Lewis, Yasmine Delawari, Michael Cole
Director: Bruce A. Evans
Director: Bruce A. Evans
Screenwriter: Bruce A. Evans, Raynold Gideon
Producer: Kevin Costner, Raynold Gideon, Jim Wilson
Studio: MGM
Reviews for Mr. Brooks
Costner's double-act with Hurt is a wicked pleasure, like The Odd Couple with a psychopathic twist.
Kevin Costner as a schizophrenic serial killer? Demi Moore as a hardboiled police detective? No, we don’t think so.
It does keep you guessing until the end, but Mr Brooks turns out to be Mr Average after all.
There's enough ambition for a miniseries here, and satellite viewers already have the rather terrific Dexter. Stuffed into two hours, it's all a bit of a pile-up.
If you can stomach the psychological codswallop of a serial killer keeping the demons at bay via Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, it may well be possible to enjoy this taut-ish thriller.
With a terrific cast and a superb script, this is a hugely enjoyable suspense thriller of the sort that they really don't make anymore.
Despite numerous cutesy twists, it's the gradual unveiling of a warped morality that lures you into Brooks' world.
Everyone involved takes this tat seriously except William Hurt, who goes gung-ho as the alter-ego goading Brooks’ kill frenzies. If only they’d cut out the middle-Kev and cast Hurt instead…
A meticulous killer with family issues; a cop with problems of her own; secondary murderers on the loose; a plot with unexplored depths - this could have been a decent TV series.
Although flawed, this remains a blackly funny noir treat thanks to Costner and Hurt’s double-act.
Mr Brooks is a new spin on murder-by-numbers: one fascinating character, two outstanding performances, and subplots too numerous for the film's coherence or the viewer's sanity.
Twisty and seductive, this classy dramatic thriller has so much going on that we almost forget we're watching a trashy potboiler.
This wannabe highbrow horror-thriller is a graceless, unfocused piece of work with a central narrative as tonally schizophrenic and wayward as its lead.
A dinâmica entre Hurt e Costner carrega Instinto Secreto: exibindo uma imensa química em suas cenas, os dois atores estabelecem um sentimento misto de tensão e camaradagem entre seus personagens.
The audience is apt to forget its own vicarious indulgence in some fairly perverse, psychologically unhinged acted out fantasy, as Kevin Costner masterminds erotically tinged guilty pleasures.
Hubiera sido una estupenda comedia negra si no fuera que el director Bruce A. Evans se tomó el asunto en serio. Firme candidata a la peor película del año.
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