This is another one of those films that have been kind of flying under the radar a little bit.  I believe I saw one trailer for this flick before actually seeing the film.  Sometimes, I actually prefer to go into a movie that way.  I like not knowing what I will be seeing.  It holds open that element of surprise.  All I really knew were the stars of the film and that it had something to do with a guy that had a split personality. 

Going back to Mr. Brooks, the film stars Kevin Costner (Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Dances with Wolves), Demi Moore (G.I. Jane, Striptease), Dane Cook (Employee of the Month, H.B.O.’s “Tourgasm”) and William Hurt (The Village, Syriana). 

The Plot: Mr. Brooks is a pretty twisted flick that has a very interesting storyline.  Kevin Costner plays a man named Earl Brooks.  Mr. Brooks has a great life, with a wife and beautiful daughter.  He is the head of a box-making company that obviously pays him well, considering the size of his house.  On the other side of his life, he is a very talented serial killer that has been dubbed by the police as the “Thumbprint Killer.” 

The movie picks up with Mr. Brooks committing his first murder in two years.  Now, what makes this so interesting is Mr. Brook’s imaginary friend Marshall, played by William Hurt.  This reminded me a lot of Fight Club.  The big difference was that in Fight Club, the imaginary friend was the big twist at the end.  In Mr. Brooks, it is implied from the beginning that this friend is only seen by Mr. Brooks.  Don’t worry, I did not ruin anything.  It is shown right in the beginning of the film. 

Now, since Mr. Brooks has not murdered anyone in two years, the cops have pretty much given up their search.  Mr. Brooks is very addicted to killing and needs to do it again.  He finds two people he wants to kill and does his normal routine, thinking he got away with everything.  Shocker, someone happened to take pictures of Mr. Brooks at the scene of the crime and comes to him with a bribe.  This someone, named Mr. Smith, is played by Dane Cook.  Mr. Smith’s only request is to come along with Mr. Brooks on his next murder and be an assistant.  Yes, I know that sounds pretty wacky.  You are probably wondering how Demi Moore fits into this movie.  Well, she plays the cop assigned to the case to find the “Thumbprint Killer.” 

The Review: Overall, Mr. Brooks was a dark, twisted and very entertaining film whose only flaw was the casting of Dane Cook.  Did he ruin the entire film?  The answer is no.  The movie was definitely great but I felt that he brought it down in a lot of his scenes.  He was just too Dane Cook-ish and it did not fit the film. 

Now going over the other actors, this was definitely one of Kevin Costner’s best performances.  I really enjoyed his chemistry with his imaginary friend Marshall (William Hurt).  I just really loved how they would laugh back and forth.  They laughed in a very sadistic and twisted way about their murder scenes. 

There is one thing that still bothers me about this movie.  Every time Costner and Hurt would be engaging in conversation, everybody else around Costner did not hear anything that Costner was saying to his imaginary friend.  So there would be literally fifteen to twenty seconds of Costner talking to this imaginary friend and the people around Costner would not really say anything.  Did they notice that Costner was kind of going blank for those fifteen to twenty seconds?  It is obvious that no one else in the film can see William Hurt.  So I was just curious what was going through the other character’s heads when Costner would stop to talk to his imaginary friend. 

I really enjoyed how sadistic Costner was in the film.  Most of the positives for the film revolve around the twists and the chemistry between Hurt and Costner. 

The Verdict: I give the film 4 BDK’s because I feel that it is a good matinee to see.  You don’t need to run out to the theatres right away to see it, but definitely check it out.  If you are looking for a movie to go see, you need to check out Knocked Up.  Mr. Brooks is still a very good film though and should be seen in theatres during a matinee showing, hence the 4 BDK rating.