Mr. Brooks

“Why do you fight it so hard, Earl?”

I’ve never been a fan of Kevin Costner’s movies (with the exception of A Perfect World), but I was looking for something to rent at Blockbuster a few weeks ago and Mr. Brooks caught my eye. I’d seen the trailer, which I thought intriguing, and knew something of the premise, but I’d resisted seeing it because I just didn’t think Costner could pull off a seriously menacing persona. Boy, was I seriously mistaken. His portrayal of the complicated Mr. Brooks—a businessman, philanthropist and loving father who also happens to be the notorious Thumbprint Killer—is understated, intelligent and almost disturbingly sympathetic. His gentle everyman demeanor, which is mirrored by the slow, deliberate pacing of the story, is what instills an almost surrealist sense of unease that deepens and grows as the plot unfolds.

His relationship with his alter ego, Marshall (played by the strange and fabulous William Hurt) is deliciously twisted and for me, their interaction is the highlight of the movie. Marshall's smooth delivery and glib cruelty are a fine counterpoint to Mr. Brooks’s brooding regrets.

If there was a weak link in the movie, it was the tough, tenacious police detective played by Demi Moore. Too much time was spent on developing a character that just never came to life. I would have preferred they cast an unknown and make it a somewhat throw-away role.

At any rate, Mr. Brooks is a top-notch(and unusual) thriller that I highly recommend.