Mr. Brooks (2007) * * *

 

Directed by:  Bruce A. Evans

Starring:  Kevin Costner, William Hurt, Demi Moore, Dane Cook, Marg Helgenberger, Danielle Panabaker, Lindsay Crouse

Earl Brooks (Costner) is a successful Portland businessman who was just awarded by the city as its businessman of the year, but later that night, he murders two people in cold blood and burns his clothes in an incinerator.  We learn that Earl has killed many times before and has never been caught.  He is meticulous down to the last detail and troubled detective Tracy Atwood (Moore), who herself is caught up in a messy divorce, is frustrated by her inability to solve Brooks' murders.  

Mr. Brooks is a complex tale of a man at odds with himself.  On the surface, Earl is a family-oriented businessman whom no one can say a bad word about.  He isn't overly friendly and keeps to himself for good reason.  He thinks he has everything wired, until one day a young man named Mr. Smith (Cook) meets him at the office and provides compromising photos showing Mr. Brooks at the murder scene.  Mr. Smith, a voyeur, caught Earl in the act and blackmails him.  His price?  Take him along when Earl commits his next murder.  

Earl is guided by his imaginary alter ego Marshall (Hurt), who acts mostly as the devil on his shoulder.  He laughs off Earl's declarations that he won't kill anymore.  Earl's daughter Jane (Panabaker) also comes home saying she left school back east for fuzzy reasons and is also pregnant.  Earl and Marshall soon understand the truth of Jane's situation and Earl will have to go into the killing business again while trying to control the wildcard that is Mr. Smith.

Mr. Brooks is full of subplots and keeps a steady pace.  I'm sure I left a couple of other characters and plots out for the sake of brevity, but we find ourselves rooting for Earl to not be caught.  Why this dynamic?  It's rooted in the performances.  Costner's Earl Brooks is an intelligent man who loves his family, but also possesses the innate ability to kill.  Mr. Smith, well played by comedian Dane Cook, is a burgeoning psychopath looking for an outlet for his murderous desires.  We are also not without sympathy for Demi Moore's Tracy Atwood, whose job is to catch people like Earl Brooks and is not only dealing with a divorce, but a criminal she put away who escaped from prison and is coming for her. 

Mr. Brooks was supposed to be a trilogy, but its box-office failure prevented that from happening.  The movie serves its purpose as a standalone movie, but in the age of streaming, why not give us another couple of movies to see how the vision would play out?