Okay, let's be honest with ourselves: Mr. Costner's glory days are behind him. He had Dances with Wolves. A lot of actors would kill to have his roles. But not so much anymore. I wouldn't say that Mr. Brooks has changed that, but it goes a long way to bringing back his names after the likes of Waterworld (yes it was cool, but also horrible), Rumor Has It, and The Guardian. Mr. Brooks falls short of being a great summer action flick in a number of ways, but it still remains a good use of your time for a lazy afternoon.
Mr. Earl Brooks, the local Business Man of the Year, has a great family and a thriving business he started from scratch. Unfortunately, his bright and shiny life casts a rather dark shadow. Mr. Brooks has a fetish. It doesn't involve women's feet or dressing up in certain types of clothing - at least not in the behind closed doors sexy way. Oh no, for you see, Mr. Brooks gets his kicks by entering the homes of strangers late at night and killing them. And it would seem, according to his murderous alter ego Marshall (William Hurt), that he's been doing this for quite some time. He can't seem to quit. He even attends Addicts Anonymous at his local church. No matter what he does, he eventually ends up killing.
But one night everything changed: he was caught. Not by the police, mind you. No no, Mr. Brooks was caught on film by a man who was watching one of the very couples Mr. Brooks killed. Mr. Smith (Dane Cook) or so he calls himself, is blackmailing Earl Brooks with the pictures into teaching him the ways of the killing trade. While the threat of extortion looms over his head in his secret life, it seems his daughter is in trouble as well.
Jane Brooks (Danielle Panabaker), Earl's daughter, has dropped out of college and won't tell her parents why. While Earl and Marshall can tell she's hiding something, they don't know what. However, they soon receive visitors that cast light upon the daughter's troubles.
Having an alter ego has been a pretty common theme in many movies. Whether it signifies living out one's fantasies, gaining the ability to act outside one's own social capacity, saving the world, or destroying it, Directors just can't seem to find enough ways to show it on film. With Spider-man we saw Willem Defoe talk to his reflection. In Lord of the Rings Gollum stared into other reflective surfaces. In Superman, Clark Kent had to change clothes to signify his changing of identities. There just seems to be no end.
Mr. Brooks takes the idea of alter-egos to a version that I really like: actually having a separate person play the part. Maybe it was just William Hurt's performance but it was well done. As Mr. Brooks talks to Marshall everyone else around him hears him say nothing and simply thinks he's staring off into space. He merely looks contemplative. It gives the film a very inner-monologue feel without the cheesy disembodied voice that a lot of films used to help narrate.
Throughout the storyline, Detective Tracy Atwood (Demi Moore) is actively chasing down the Thumbprint killer (a.k.a. Mr Brooks). Unfortunately she doesn't know what the audience knows (that the Thumbprint killer is our friend Earl). The cuts to her scenes at first felt forced and unnecessary. But later on the significance of her storyline made more sense. But even then, I felt her part was included merely to add filler. There's talk of this film being the first of a trilogy and to that I'd say "Good, give this concept more thought". Sequels have been hit and miss, but I feel as if Mr. Brooks could be given a more in-depth realization. The film was good, but by no leap of the imagination was it great.
Kevin Costner's film career is on the road to recovery. His performance in Mr. Brooks gives me hope.
"Mr. Brooks" opens June 1, 2007 and is rated R. Drama, Mystery. Directed by Bruce A Evans. Written by Bruce Evans, Raynold Gideon. Starring Dane Cook, Danielle Panabaker, Demi Moore, Kevin Costner, William Hurt.
