Mr. Brooks Review
by Steve Rhodes (Steve DOT Rhodes AT InternetReviews DOT com)May 29th, 2007
MR. BROOKS
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 2007 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): ***
Exquisitely constructed, MR. BROOKS is a gorgeous and compelling thriller about a very sympathetic serial killer. Told with a cerebral grace and methodical sense of timing, the story unfolds with the delicious pacing of a carefully prepared feast.
In a movie with some very good casting choices, none is better than that of a cold-as-ice Kevin Costner as Mr. Earl Brooks and a humorously frightening William Hurt as Marshall, Earl's evil alter ego. As the two of them discuss murder, it is a discussion of sheer joy, like two wine lovers savoring great bottles of their favorite vintages. Most people know Mr. Brooks as the founder and owner of the Brooks Box Company. Recently named Portland's Man of the Year by the local Chamber of Commerce, he appears to all who know him to be a good and reliable husband and father. Marg Helgenberger ("CSI") plays Earl's wife Emma and Danielle Panabaker (the daughter on "Shark") plays his daughter Jane.
In contrast to Earl, who is respected by his community, whose citizens he secretly slaughters because of an addiction of which he is trying to cleanse himself, Marshall is an unknown, because only Earl can see and talk to him. Costner and Hurt have great chemistry together, being equal measures funny and scary. They are also immensely likable, no matter how heinous "their" crimes are. And, they both feel great pleasure in what they do. Don't be surprised if they creep you out when you realize you are vicariously beginning to revel in their crimes with them.
But the movie has a lot more on its mind than just one serial killer. Certainly Mr. Brooks and his shenanigans are always in the center ring, but the two side rings have a lot to command our attention as well.
In one of the two other parallel and intertwining stories, Detective Tracy Atwood (Demi Moore) plays a cop trying to track down the "thumbprint killer." That would be our Mr. Brooks. But she is distracted by a messy divorce and by another serial killer on the loose. The other killer, whom she originally put away, has vowed to track Tracy down and kill her. Since this killer is as crude and gory as Mr. Brooks is suave and sophisticated, this storyline has a completely different style, fast-paced, loud and surprising.
The third story concerns dear daughter Jane who just might have learned a thing or two from dear old dad. Some of the film's biggest shocks come from this part of the narrative.
Told with great mood and filled with ominous shadows, MR. BROOKS is always a treat for the eyes. And the ending has some great twists. By the halfway point, I began to hope, which I rarely do, for a sequel. The ending resolution makes this, well ... let's don't discuss it any more.
MR. BROOKS runs 2:00. It is rated R for "strong bloody violence, some graphic sexual content, nudity and language" and would be acceptable for teenagers.
The film opens nationwide in the United States on Friday, June 1, 2007. In the Silicon Valley, it will be showing at the AMC theaters, the Century theaters and the Camera Cinemas.
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