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Two 1990s A-listers return to headlining duty for Mr. Brooks. Kevin Costner is the eponymous Earl Brooks, a well-to-do businessman who moonlights as "The Thumbprint Killer", perpetrating a series of elaborate murders of strangers. It shares certain similarities with recent acclaimed TV series Dexter, but unlike the title protagonist of that show, Mr. Brooks doesn't necessarily kill those who have committed a crime, with a rather random selection strategy. Demi Moore, meanwhile, is the cop assigned to the case, and the film therefore generally follows two distinct strands. A surplus of subplots muddies the focus and overextends the running time, but generally Costner is the centre of attention. The catalyst for the events of the film is Dane Cook in a rare non-comedic role; Cook plays the vaguely-named Mr. Smith, an amateur photographer and part-time peeping tom. When Costner executes his latest victims and neglects to close the curtains, Cook spots him and takes several incriminating photographs. However, instead of the reaction that most sane people would be expected to have (i.e. taking them to the police), Cook blackmails Costner into taking him along for his next murder.
Costner is as good as he's ever been here. Never renowned as a particularly versatile actor, in Mr. Brooks he has a complex role which he convincingly pulls off. Brooks is a conflicted character; instead of taking a perverse sadistic pleasure from his heinous acts he does it simply because he is addicted to it (and attends Alcoholics Anonymous meetings to try and improve his state of mind). When Cook's Mr. Smith comes into his life he has already sworn to fight his internal impulses and stop the killings, so is drawn back in against his will. Costner manages to make Brooks a sympathetic character despite his horrendous vicious streak. Adding further depth and a Gollum-like dual personality is the voice of his subconscious, embodied in the form of William Hurt. The pair have an amusing byplay that none of the other characters are aware of, making a concept that could have been a questionable approach into one that completely works.
Demi Moore's strand at times feels superfluous, but it does add a constant sense of plot developments. Moore's Detective Tracy Atwood is a fairly standard strong-willed and stubborn but morally upstanding character but is also given extra depth by a divorce subplot. The film may have benefited from concentrating more on either Brooks or Atwood; as it is, it tries to have the best of both worlds and its quality suffers for it. It remains, however, commendably engrossing with some excellent twists (including one sly red herring). At some points the pace is slightly laboured and there are a few moments where the plot is slightly hard to follow but generally Mr. Brooks is a pleasingly good thriller. It doesn't hold back on the gore and features several excellent performances.
The summary
A possible career-best showing from Kevin Costner enlivens what could have been a run-of-the-mill thriller. Mr. Brooks turns out to be a very solid and sometimes gripping film.
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