Reviewer's grade: B
Kevin Costner stars as Earl Brooks, a box tycoon with an imaginary friend named Marshall (William Hurt) and a penchant for serial murder. After breaking his vow never to kill again, Brooks attracts the attention of Mr. Smith (Dane Cook), a would-be murderer/thrill-seeker and Detective Tracy Atwood (Demi Moore), a police investigator who had lost Brooks' cooling trail. Drama ensues. Co-starring Marg Helgenberger ("CSI") and Danielle Panabaker ("Shark") as Brooks' wife and daughter, "Mr. Brooks" paints a nihilistic portrait of how people can live more than one life at a time, and the lengths to which they will go to keep their identities from colliding.
While probably a must-see for fans of crime drama and suspense, "Mr. Brooks" contains several wince-worthy scenes of violence and one fairly graphic sex scene (which, predictably, turns violent), not to mention a mercifully shadowy shot of Costner's 52-year-old bare derriere. Not for the softhearted, squeamish or those currently experiencing existential crises. R
"?Michael Robertson
