Mr. Brooks

Earl Brooks (Kevin Costner) is a successful business man. He's the respected head of a conglomerate that manufactures parcels for shipping. Neat, orderly, useful boxes; little and large. The containers are also a metaphor, not unlike the ways in which Mr. Brooks compartmentalizes the various aspects of his life.

In addition to his work world, he is also a loving family man with a gorgeous home in posh Portland and a rich personal life that's augmented by his recent award as Man of the Year. His wife, Emma (Marg Helgenberger) is sweet and supportive. His daughter Jane (Danielle Panabaker) is smart and gung-ho about following in her father's footsteps.

There's just one little problem with this idyllic existence: Earl is addicted to murder.

A slick serial killer in the tradition of Tom Ripley, Patrick Bateman, Hannibal Lecter and Dexter Morgan, Earl Brooks is elegant, smart, and unspeakably cruel. Unlike those others, however, Mr. Brooks has some partners in crime: Mr. Smith (Dane Cook), and Marshall (William Hurt) — it's really these two who pull Mr. Brooks' strings (and if I told you how, he'd have to kill you).

The murder scenes in Mr. Brooks, though few, are quite shocking and beautifully executed via expert editing by Miklos Wright (who also brought the violence to vivid life in another Costner vehicle, Open Range). Every technical aspect in Mr. Brooks is beyond reproach — I swooned over the crisp cinematography, the stirring score, the well thought-out sets and cleverly conceived set decoration. Everything you see is there for a reason, adding dimension and visual and aural wealth to every single scene.

Horror fans might have an especially hard time accepting Costner as a serial slayer, and that's certainly understandable given his somewhat uneven body of work and his affinity toward hero roles. However, he is more than up to the task here and he is mirrored most impressively by his cinematic alter ego, Hurt. Demi Moore, who plays an obsessed cop hot on their heels, is also up to snuff and doing her best believable tough chick since 1997's G.I. Jane. Panabaker is good in her layered role; Helgenberger's talents are wasted; and Cook is rather over the top (however, his character isn't supposed to be stable, so his histrionics are buyable enough).

There are a couple of pacing issues and some instances in the story line that require the viewer to suspend disbelief in a major way, but in the end it's a solid, thoroughly entertaining thriller and certainly worthy of a sequel (if all the same players are willing to return). In sum, Mr. Brooks is well worth seeing, particularly if you prefer the stylish specter of death to the mindless slasher.

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Reviewed by Staci Layne Wilson

Be sure to check out our exclusive interviews with the Mr. Brooks cast.