Mr. Brooks
Director: Bruce A. Evans. Screenplay: Bruce A. Evans, Raynold Gideon. Cinematography: John Lindley. Film editing: Miklos
Wright. Production design: Jeffrey Beecroft. Music: Ramin Djawadi. Producers: Kevin Costner, Raynold Gideon, Jim Wilson. With: Kevin Costner, William Hurt, Demi Moore, Dane Cook, Lindsay Crouse, Marg Helgenberger, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Danielle Panabaker, Aisha Hinds, Jason Lewis, Reiko Aylesworth, Matt Schulze, Yasmine Delawari, Michael Cole, Jim Farnum. USA. 119 min. 2007.The basic plot isn’t much out of the ordinary: a charismatic serial killer, Mr. Brooks, and his unwanted protégé, Mr. Smith, go prowling while a clever policewoman, Detective Atwood, tries to solve the multiple-murder case they’ve landed her with. But the movie is uncommonly clever, starting with its offbeat use of a character named Marshall, who lends (im)moral support to Mr. Brooks when his horrific hobby starts to seem tiresome or boring. Reviewers have tagged Marshall as a standard-issue alter ego for Mr. Brooks, but he’s really an imaginary friend; while the picture has been criticized for failing to explain his purpose--or his presence, for that matter—the screenwriters create a more disturbing mood by simply taking him for granted, making him the sort of unseen doppelgänger that any self-respecting psychopath might cultivate as a secret sharer of unspoken enigmas and unspeakable acts. Hurt plays him with sinister brilliance, and Costner is equally strong as the title lunatic, a seemingly good guy with a high-level career and a photogenic family. Costner is so strongly associated with good-guy roles that there’s a special frisson in watching the bursts of understated ecstasy Mr. Brooks manifests each time another killing is accomplished. The story gets more contrived and gimmicky as it goes along, setting the scene for sequels and spin-offs that probably won’t happen. In all, though, Costner’s creepy thriller is good, poisonous fun. – David Sterritt
