Review of Mr. Brooks (2007) by Desarae M — 22 Jul 2012

When I first saw MR. BROOKS upon its release a few years back, I thought it was a mediocre thriller that survived its predictability and recycled plot-points with better-than-typical execution. After having seen it a second time, though, I've come to think that it's all of that, but with a startling depth to its main character that I somehow overlooked on my first viewing.

Kevin Costner's performance is utterly brilliant -- and the character that he (along with writer Raynold Gideon and writer-director Bruce Evans) creates is bitterly real and massively enthralling.

Despite being only Evans' second feature film (and 15 years after his first, 1992's KUFFS), MR. BROOKS is littered with scenes of stylistic creativity and transitional ingenuity; yet, perhaps because it is Evans' sophomoric directorial effort, BROOKS is also heavily burdened by a general sense of misdirection -- which results in a couple poorly conceived subplots (both involving Demi Moore's character), an equal number of distastefully silly plot twists, and a handful of unforgivable cliches (none worse than a strobe-lit Hotel corridor gun fight).

Sadly, the film's lackadaisical characteristics are in greater supply than its innovative ones; but, fortunately, Evans' cast delivers terrific performances, the most vibrant of which were provided by Dane Cook (surprise!), William Hurt (no surprise), and, of course, Costner -- the last of whom, again, made the title character a profound psychological icon of Hollywood's thriller genre.