MR. BROOKS (2007)

TITLE
Mr. Brooks

STARRING
Kevin Costner, Demi Moore, Dane Cook, William Hurt, Marg Helgenberger, Danielle Panabaker

WHAT THE BOX DOESN'T TELL YOU
The box omits to advise that this 2007 sleeper film was better than critics gave it credit for and offers a cast whose own careers would not normally lead them to these roles. If you know someone who saw Mr. Brooks in the theater, I imagine they either loved it or hated it. A well-regarded member of his community. Mr. Brooks (Costner) enjoys the comforts an established career and loving family (Helgenberger, Panabaker) by day. By night though, he gives way to a lively alter-ego (Hurt) with an exacting desire to kill random strangers. The murderous tendencies are curbed when he is caught in the act by a trusting, yet duplicitous photographer (Cook) with a self-fulfilling agenda of his own. Mired down by the possibility of having his life torn apart, Mr. Brooks seems set on doing away with the man until another plan involving a cop (Moore) who is investigating his crimes reveals itself.

WHY I WOULD RENT IT AGAIN
Oh I don't know, it was a pretty intelligent take on a psycho killer (he professed to be more of an addict) living among us with some type conscience. You don't typically get a film of this genre that is well-conceived. I am sure Mr. Brooks was poorly marketed, because I never expected to enjoy this film. In fact, when I received it via mail (thank you Blockbuster for the prompt delivery of new releases) I was upset to see I did not act quickly enough to remove it from my queue. Despite Costner's affection for emotionally void or detached roles, in Mr. Brooks it actually works. You can be certain the casting agent's call to Hurt went something like this: "you basically have to act the opposite of Kevin, can you do that?" He's calculated and ridiculous all at the same time. I was disappointed in was Demi Moore for singular, if not distracting reason. She used the word cousin, but pronounced it "cousint." Nothing plagues me like using or pronouncing a word improperly as part of a cultural habit - a bad one at that. I illustrate this through other examples, but irregardless, instead of regardless and Meijers, instead of Meijer are also peeves. I would have cut that scene or made Ms. Moore do it over 100 times until that colloquialism was all but a distant memory. It's my blog, I digress if I so choose. That aside, there is a fair plot worthy of your consideration and while I expect this movie will never make it to my own DVD case, I enjoyed it nonetheless.

WILL MY GIRLFRIEND/BOYFRIEND LIKE IT?
Yes...if they like thrillers, this is a right up their alley!

SPECIAL FEATURES
Naw, there's not a lot to these.

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