There's a smart, tense, creepy inside-the-mind-of-a-psychotic movie here. It's just too bad that it's buried under a huge load of ridiculous, over-the-top Hollywood claptrap.
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.
Runtime: 2 hrs
Genre: Detectives, Switching Roles, Thriller, Murder, Crime, Serial Killers, Theatrical Release
US Box Office: $28,424,648
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
... a nice, decent, all-American psychopath like Mr. Brooks is pretty welcome company for a few fraught and well-crafted hours in the tense and muted darkness of the movie theater.
Like its leading character, Mr. Brooks suffers from a split personality, and it's unfortunate that the wrong one comes out on top.
Earl Brooks is presented as an admirable killer, because he's an upperclass, educated white man.
Even its most absurd ideas are tantalizingly creative and sinister, enough to make you want to see them through rather than scoff and turn away.
The movie is so well made, and so compelling as a portrait of a man at war with himself, that, right up until the end, many people will probably be entertained by its intricately preposterous story.
Serial killers are people too, with hopes and dreams and loving spouses and kids who drive them crazy. That's the repulsive theme of this revolting film...
Smith is ... an insufferable, motor-mouthed douchebag that the audience will be begging for someone, anyone, to kill. In short, it's the role Cook was born to play.
Yes, it's true that before the end the fatigue meter was registering pretty strongly, but if someone had tried to remove me from the theatre I would have put up a fight.
This ghastly concoction blends sleaze, a serial killer and sex in the sort of thing that, were it not rated R, would be a television movie.
A unique and surprising movie experience. A strong alternative to the current sequelitis plaguing the industry.
[Director] Evans keeps flirting with a potentially rich idea only to surround it with indigestible amounts of silliness.
Only someone who hasn't watched TV for 20 years would think that portraying Brooks as a high-minded monster makes him more than a run-of-the-mill thrill-killer.
A high-budget psycho-thriller that lets two of our more "sedate" leading men cut loose with some entertainingly juicy performances.
The last decade hasn't been kind to Costner, but he returns to form here. This is a fine little thriller that has some nice - but not surprising twists.
Mr. Brooks had the potential to be a ridiculous thrill ride, but that requires a director who knows how to shoot a scene with more style than a Law & Order episode.
Plays like Red Dragon reimagined by filmmakers who think they're too smart or too sophisticated or too high-minded to give themselves over to the sordid, sleazy and flat-out nasty.
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