Film Reviews

Mr. Brooks

• Rating:
• Director: Bruce A. Evans
• Starring: Demi Moore
• Details: US / 120mins (16).

"This is the last time." The problem with Mr. Brooks is that it doesn't know what it wants to be. A psychological thriller? No, not really. A serial killer movie? Kind of. A good idea poorly executed? Most definitely. Costner plays Earl Brooks, a decent family man who has just won an award for Man Of The Year. However, only he knows the duality within his mind: Earl and his alter ego Marshall (Hurt) like to roam the streets at night, meticulously planning 'their' next kill. Earl has vowed to pack in his killing habits, but when he is photographed shooting his latest victims he is forced to take the blackmailer (Cook) along for his next kill. On the case is determined cop Tracy Atwood (Moore), in dire straits due to a bad divorce. Ignoring the usual set up, writer/director Evans enters the story as late as possible, which is interesting, but as the film progresses it looks like he was too eager and should have taken time to get to know his character. We're told that Brooks is the Thumbprint killer as he likes to photograph his victims in sexual poses and leaves their bloody thumbprints on the walls, but this, along with everything else in Mr. Brooks, is never explored. Like Brooks' personality, the film is fractured and Evans tries to include too much when he should have fleshed out the basics of his story - devoting a lot of time to the 'how', nothing is given to the 'why' and this is where Mr. Brooks falls down (that and Demi Moore's millionaire/divorcee sub plot that's as ridiculous as her performance). Costner and Hurt have fun in their many one-on-ones, but again it's all superficial as they never get down to the nitty gritty.

Review by Gavin Burke