Comedian Dane Cook provides the real surprise here in a brave performance that more than holds it's own amongst the list of great talent involved.
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
Reminiscent of Patricia Highsmith's Ripley novels, and that is flattering praise.
It's a tasty stew for anyone with a macabre stomach lining. It's sense of humor is dependent on your ability to connect with your inner psychopath and root for the bad guy.
delivers more of a soap opera-like story about everyone's personal lives, whether you find that interesting or not, and whether these lurid details are important to the plot or not.
In the lead, Costner (who financed the production out of his own pocket) is a long way from the boyish charmer of Dances With Wolves. But his easygoing star power is intact.
The film probably tilts the balance too far in favor of Mr. Brooks at the expense of the uninspired Det. Atwood.
There is some refreshingly good, old-fashioned storytelling in this movie.
A meticulous study on the "how" of serial killing. It just skims over the all-important "why."
Mr. Brooks manages to be deeply loathsome -- no small feat for a film that's shallowly amateurish.
Preposterous characters surround a serial killer in a strained and unbelievable story.
It's an odd piece of entertainment, and requires a viewer flexible enough to journey into the belly of the beast and somehow enjoy it. Me? I found it irresistible at times.
Mr. Brooks is driven more by its characters than its plot. And several of those characters are fascinating.
Evans delivers mood, tone and acting in this seductively quiet and unhysterical film, but so overstuffs his screenplay with plot he very nearly upends his own project.
It would be nice to report that Costner's bid paid off but Mr. Brooks, aside from the low-key menace he exudes, isn't much.
After its sleek, hard-edged first hour, the second half slides into rote action-adventure scenes, complete with techno music backdrop, that we've seen in dozens of movies of this ilk.
Overall, this is an enjoyable romp -- with some pitch black comic moments and a fascinating figure at its center.
A fascinating and thoroughly unsettling exploration into the mind of a serial killer, Mr. Brooks could well be the smartest, most astute thriller of its kind in several years.
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