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Overall Rating : 7/10
Directed By : Bruce A. Evans
Kevin Costner (The Guardian)
Demi Moore (Bobby)
Dane Cook (Employee of the Month)
William Hurt (A History of Violence)
Supplied By : Fox Home Video
Film Reviewed By : Rick L. Blalock
Date Reviewed : November. 21, 2007
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| PLOT Consider MR. BROOKS. A successful businessman. A generous philanthropist. A loving father and devoted husband. Seemingly, he's perfect. But Mr. Brooks has a secret... he is also the notorious Thumbprint Killer and no one has ever suspected it... until now. |
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| THE REVIEW Earl Brooks is a model citizen to all around him, mild-mannered and charming so much so that he has been awarded with the title of "Man of the Year" by his peers. His home life would be that of a fairy tale even, he has a loving wife, Emma and a young teenage Daughter named Jane, although Jane does have her own troubles occurring the family seems ideal for the most part. But what both Emma and Jane don't know is that Earl has a secret life that he lives on his own.....the life of a cold, calculating Serial Killer. It has been away since Mr. Brooks has acted on his inner appetite for murder - two years to be exact, but his old habit would soon resurface - enter Marshall. Marshall is Earl's inner-conscious, the one thing that persuades him to kill, no matter how much Brooks tries to resists. On the night of his "Man of the Year" acceptance speech, Marshall gets the best of him, later causing earl to go out on a late night creep. The result would be Brooks killing a couple in the midst of making love. Earl was very strategic in his approach, except for one minor mishap, this particular couple enjoyed having the curtains opened while having sex, with the possibility of anyone seeing. And seeing is what someone did, a man whom calls himself Mr. Smith, a young photographer whom just so happened to snap a few pictures during the couple's murder. Fearing that the pictures would very well implicate him, as part of an agreement, Earl agrees to allow Mr. Smith to accompany and watch him as he kills his next innocent victim. Meanwhile veteran Detective, Tracy Atwood is hot on Brooks' tail, but not without a few obstacles thrown her way by a felon whom she once put away. I have had this DVD for awhile now and knew i'd get to it eventually, but I kept putting it off for some reason. Perhaps the biggest reason being that I thought MR. BROOKS would be what has become the almost typical Serial Killer film. The majority of the Serial Killer films that have ever came out usually have one thing in common, they are usually shown from one perspective more than another -most of the time it's through the eyes of the Detectives' investigating the case, with the killers playing much more like an overtone rather than the real subject of the film. A lot of these films that take this approach kind of lag in pace, leaving us to desire to know more about the killer(1969's TV Mini-series HELTER SKELTER, depicting the case of Charles Manson, is such an exception though). so imagine when I finally concentrated my time to seeing MR. BROOKS, just how surprised I was just how balanced it was on all accounts. We basically have about 4 perspectives here; the "good guy" side of Earl Brooks, the "bad side" he tries to conceal, the perspective through the eyes of Detective Tracy Atwood, as well as one through the eyes of Mr. Smith, a man whom somewhat idolizes Earl. I was glad to see that Mr. Brooks was essentially the star of every perspective shown, as the killer seems to be the most interesting part of these types of films anyway. Sure, one would never possibly fully understand what a Serial Killer feels and gets out of what he or she does(unless in fact, you are the person), but as far as i'm concerned, i'd say that MR. BROOKS offers up a fairly accurate look at what it could be like to be such an individual. Earl Brooks is a good man as far as his family and co-workers at is successful box company, in which her owns, believes, but deep down inside he harbors a hunger for violence. These thoughts and urges Brooks holds within are vile, dark and twisted, and as such, so is the film, in which plays out these thoughts with great realism - it displays the definition of dark evil inside an innocent shell. On the outside someone like Earl appears perfectly normal, while on the inside he couldn't be more different. The film is slickly directed by Bruce A. Evans, and moves at a steady pace, making the film virtually never a dull one, Earl Brooks, since he often has second thoughts of his actions, usually changes his mind, and his actions are more spontaneous than anything, thus making the film less predictable - which is a good thing. To be honest, before seeing this, I didn't really believe that Kevin Costner could pull off the role of a Serial Killer, as I see him as too much of a nice guy. But boy was I ever wrong about him, as I have to say that I left the film very impressed by Costner's performance, and I think it's safe to say that he is in his top form here - and come to think of it, Costner's "good guy" image was really helpful in aiding the good side of Mr. Brooks so believable. Probably the most unlikely cast member is Comedian Dane Cook as Mr. Smith. Like anyone else, I thought it was odd to see him cast in a film like this, as we are accustomed to seeing him in comedies rather than a Thriller of this magnitude. But again I was wrong as in this role, Cook really steps out to show us that, he's more than just a class clown, he is actually capable of giving a serious portrayal. Also worth mentioning is Demi Moore as Detective Atwood, whom proves that she is a far better actress than one that needs to take her clothes off in every role she's given. MR. BROOKS is one of those films that really and truly a "sleeper hit". Why didn't this film receive a bigger buzz?, why wasn't it publicized more than it was? I don't know. But it surely deserved it, as it's definitely an excellent film. |
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| GORE
METER 4.5/10 Several graphic gunshots, a slit throat, and a brutal stabbing with a pair of scissors are all seen here. Not really all that gory, but it is done stylishly in a way that best benefits the story. |
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| MUSICAL
SCORE 6/10 A lot of techno and upbeat tracks, and as weird as it sounds, it all works really well here. |
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| OVERALL
IMPRESSION OF THE FILM As I said, initially, I wasn't expecting much from MR. BROOKS, but what I got was a pleasant surprise. MR. BROOKS is an impressive film, that offers a thorough character study of a Serial Killer without being to complex and difficult - it's actually intriguing to watch. I highly recommend! |
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