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The Review - AT THE MOVIES with WILLIAM HALL
Published: 11 October 2007

Kevin Costner as ‘businessman’ Mr Brooks

There’s something about Mr Costner

MR BROOKS - Directed by Bruce A Evans
Certificate 18

“THERE’S something about Mr Brooks” is the sinister tagline advertising this suspense thriller. And certainly there is something odd going on beneath the respectable image of Mr Earl Brooks (Kevin Costner), successful entrepreneur, philanthropist and pillar of the community in Portland, Oregon.
When we first meet him at a black-tie charity dinner, he is being given an award for ‘businessman of the year’ and a standing ovation, with his proud wife (Marg Helgenberger) looking on.
But behind the horn-rimmed spectacles and smart suit, Mr Brooks has another life: he is an insatiable serial killer who has been on the rampage for years.
We first suspect this when his malevolent alter-ego (William Hurt) materialises in the back seat of his car to discuss his crimes – somewhat alarming for his passengers, because no one else can see or hear the conversations going on in his head.
There’s a tenacious lady cop (Demi Moore) on his trail. His first mistake is to be photographed through a bedroom window by a sleazy long-lens snapper (Dane Cook) after he has just slain a couple as they make love.
Now the blackmail begins. It’s all nasty stuff, scarcely credible and punctuated with psycho-babble.
As for Costner – who has to be the dullest actor on the planet, anyway – he sleep-walks through it from start to finish.

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