There's something about Mr Brooks.
"All human beings... are commingled out of good and evil." - Robert Louis Stevenson, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
Consider Mr Brooks: A successful businessman, generous philanthropist, loving husband and father, a true pillar of the community. Everyone says, he's perfect.
Nonetheless, Mr Brooks (Kevin Costner) harbours a sinister secret-he's an insatiable serial killer, so lethally clever that no one has ever suspected him-until now.
He is the notorious serial murderer branded as The Thumbprint Killer. Though recently inactive, his pathological compulsion is inflamed once again by his cunning, wicked alter ego, whom Mr Brooks faults for his transgressions. But succumbing to one more malevolent urge to murder an unsuspecting couple, Mr Brooks commits his first mistake - he is observed by a peeping Tom photographer (Dane Cook), who chooses to blackmail him with a bizarre demand. This last crime, though, also unleashes a tenacious detective (Demi Moore) whose own personal crisis drives her furiously to solve the identity of the Thumbprint Killer, putting her on Mr Brooks' trail.
Special Agent Matti
I like Mr Brooks because it lets you get inside the head of a serial killer. So often in the movies we know the killer only by their works and by the speculations of the police but now we have the chance to see the world as he/they see it. It's good.
In terms of thrillingness, however, Mr Brooks is not quite as thrilling as, say, Perfect stranger. Perhaps it's because you know that the protagonist can't die before the very end of the film (otherwise you wouldn't have any story left). Perhaps it's Kevin Costner's deadpan delivery (I'm assuming that he can actually move the muscles in his face). Perhaps it's because most of the "action" is centred around tertiary characters, ones with whom Mr B doesn't interact. I'll leave the final decision on that up to you because even though I'm not scoring it highly I still feel happy recommending that you meet Mr Brooks.
The thriller movie Mr Brooks is directed by Bruce Evans, Raynold Gideon and stars Kevin Costner, Demi Moore, William Hurt.
MA 15+ (Strong violence, strong sex scene)
120 minutes (2:00 hours)
Film: 9 August 2007
