Mr. Brooks | 
| Director: Bruce A. Evans
Actors: Kevin Costner, Demi Moore, Dane Cook, William Hurt, Marg Helgenberger
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
List Price: $19.98
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Rating:  155 reviews
Sales Rank: 2306
Format: Ac-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Dvd-video, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), Spanish (Dubbed)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 121 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.3 x 4.2 x 1.1
MPN: MGMDM108993D
ISBN: 6301971345
UPC: 027616089939
EAN: 9786301971348
ASIN: 6301971345
Theatrical Release Date: June 1, 2007
Release Date: October 23, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Studio: Tcfhe/mgm Release Date: 06/10/2008 Run time: 120 minutes Rating: R
Amazon.com
Kevin Costner as a warped serial killer, a pillar of the community whose dark side is embodied by an on-screen William Hurt? You have to admit, it sounds intriguing, right? Mr. Brooks is the vehicle for this unsavory story, and it turns out to be a lot less kicky than it sounds. Mr. Brooks is a Portland, Oregon tycoon and philanthropist whose "addiction" to murder is suddenly re-surfacing--with plenty of help from his sneering alter ego, who generally sits in the back of the car, goading Mr. Brooks on. (The other characters can't see William Hurt in all this, of course.) The unbelievably convoluted plot has Mr. Brooks confronted by a blackmailer (comedian Dane Cook) who has a surprising twist on things, and trailed by a cop (Demi Moore) who comes equipped with her own set of professional and marital woes. As if that weren't enough, when Brooks's daughter (Danielle Panabaker) comes home, it becomes clear that some traits run in the family. The scenes with Costner and Hurt are the best stuff in the film, even if director Bruce Evans can't figure out how to play fair visualizing their presence to others. But the script, which among other whoppers make Demi Moore's character a millionaire, is just too unbelievable to stomach. If William Hurt's character provided a running commentary for this movie, there wouldn't be anything left after he got through mocking it. --Robert Horton
The Cast of Mr. Brooks 
Kevin Costner | 
William Hurt | 
Demi Moore | 
Dane Cook | 
Marg Helgenberger | 
Danielle Panabaker | Beyond Mr. Brooks 
Mr. Brooks on Blu-Ray | 
Mr. Brooks: Music From The Motion Picture | 
More from MGM |
Stills from Mr. Brooks
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| Customer Reviews: Read 150 more reviews...
 Invest in Things People Need - Water and Cemeteries November 2, 2007
TastyBabySyndrome ("Daddy Dagon's Daycare" - Proud Sponsor of the Little Tendril Baseball Team, USA)
36 out of 45 found this review helpful
Mr. Brooks has a Man of the Year award, a loving family, some seemingly-mundane hobbies, and a little nickname the papers like to use calling him: "The Thumbprint Killer." Only they don't call HIM the killer; they just refer to some of the handy work he seems to have left behind and this addiction keeps him killing. He doesn't like to do it, mind you, going to AA meetings because he is trying to keep his addiction in check. Still, an addiction is an addiction is an addiction and relapses to occur. His latest relapse, a dancer he sees and her lover, change things when something changes in his pattern.
Namely, a loose end comes to visit and builds a world within his world by asking him to show off what killing is made of.
And that's where things get started.
When I first rented the movie, I didn't expect that much. Costner is oftentimes hit-or-miss and, frankly, I was afraid he would miss in this role. Happily I have to say I was wrong, with Costner making an excellent killer and also kicking it in a dual role. One of the many things Costner showcases in this movie is the way he can play with the mentality within a role - here Mr. Brooks has an imaginary friend we are lucky enough to see and the two of them share laughs and plans and suspicions on what is what. Honestly these are some of the best scenes in the business, making you really like Mr. Brooks and appreciate his humor. Costner does great work making Mr. Brooks a sympathetic character, too, with his murderous life balanced well by a family he sees to really love.
Along the way, we pick up a counterpart to Costner, one Demi Moore, and she does some good work in this venture, too. I was equally surprised by this because I didn't expect to be able to take her seriously in any sort of way as an officer, much less an officer with a plethora of secrets. One of those things is a little bit of a distraction, mind you, one called The Hangman, but that just seems to be a little piece of a giant puzzle trying to keep the audience engaged.
I'm glad the writers at least remembered that Mr. Brooks was the focal point of the tale.
For people wanting some hardcore murder, this is a mainstream piece and doesn't offer up a thick helping of doom. It does have its moments and it does have its beauty, and it should still offer up something to that side of the spectrum. People who don't like graphic horror should be able to keep on keeping on with their watching, able to love Costner and able to watch some death together.
I liked the movie - it had a lot to give to - and think people should check it out.
"Mr. Smith, before I was the thumb print killer, I've killed lots of people lots of different ways " October 24, 2007
Jonny Rotten (Neverland)
19 out of 19 found this review helpful
This by far is Kevin Costner's best film he has been in about 15 years. Costner plays "Mr. Brooks" who leads a double life. On the outside he is a successful businessman and loving family man, on the inside, he struggles with his addiction, his addiction to murder. For about two years he has been able to resist until he listens to his alter ego (played devilishly by William Hurt) to play again. He then goes into the apartment of a couple and proceeds to kill both of them.
The next day he is visited by Mr. Smith, who blackmails him to take him to his next killing. All the while he is being followed by a detective trying to solve the "thumb print murders" and juggles his personal life which is thrust into turmoil. His daughter "drops out of school" and is pregnant, but is that all of it? Soon he discovers she shares the same addiction and sickness as he does and out of compassion "fixes" her situation as well as his own predicament. What to do with and about Mr. Smith? Fulfilling his promise to Mr. Smith he takes him on his next job and decides he wants Mr. Smith to end his suffering and make him disappear, but is this the true end of Mr. brooks?
This one will keep you on your toes, on the edge of your seat and guessing until the end. I haven't personally seen a film executed this well in many years, by far the best Costner has done in a decade, and I wish he would do more films of this caliber more often. A great script, cast and great performances played deliciously by both Costner and Hurt. This one is not to be missed, and I promise you won't be disappointed.
An odd, disturbing and unrealistic film, but compelling nevertheless. December 17, 2007
Steven Hedge (Somewhere "East of Eden")
16 out of 23 found this review helpful
Thanks to an outstanding performance by Kevin Costner, this "been there done that" psycho-killer film is worth watching.
We are all very familiar with Costner's "gosh gee-whiz" persona in his early career with Field of Dreams and Silverado and later at playing either a villain, as in A Perfect World, or a very flawed and unfriendly hero as he was in Waterworld, but we have never quite seen him as such a complex psychopathic villain as in he is in "Mr. Brooks."
Here Costner takes a stab (pun intended) as a serial killer trying to stop his murderous addiction, but ends up being blackmailed by a witness, oddly played by comedian Dane Cook, to his last murder. Unbelievably, he is turned on to murder after seeing Costner's Mr. Brooks do away with his neighbors and wants him to take him under his wing or he will go to the police with his proof that puts Brooks at the scene of his last murder. Mr. Brooks decides to string this guy along until he is no longer useful and that is where some really decent plot twists take place. One significant plot twist is that Mr. Brooks' daughter, well played by Daniella Panabacker, is accused of murder back at her college dorm. Is she innocent or just like her father?
Mr. Brooks is a compelling film that has a few distracting and significant problems. This film is both graphic in its violence and sexual scenes, but neither seems really gratuitous. That's a plus for me. In addition, Costner's brilliant performance is absolutely captivating, especially to his long-term followers who have never seen him in a role like this one. He has definitely grown as an actor and this is one juicy role for him. The performances by all others in this film, including Demi Moore's are good, if nothing special. The problems come from some unbelievable elements within the plot and one actor who is a great distraction, William Hurt.
Plot Problems:
(1) What are the odds that a neighbor who witnesses a murder would get so turned on by it that he would contact the killer to seek "training"? That is just too far-fetched even for me.
(2) Why does Demi Moore's character of a cop have to also be a millionaire, be going through a divorce, and have a convicted killer be after her? It is all just too much for this story. The film comes close to sinking under its own unnecessarily heavy plot weight.
(3) The film comes off as being too contrived like many of Alfred Hitchcock's films had been. All enjoyable, but you feel very manipulated afterwards.
Acting Problems:
(1) Dane Cook as the guy blackmailing Mr. Brooks to teach him murder is never quite convincing in the role, but perhaps that is because his role, as a whole, is just too far beyond belief to take seriously anyhow. To his credit he does play "slimy" pretty well.
(2) I swear to God that if I never see William Hurt in this kind of role again, I'd die a happy man. He's done this bad guy with no conscience thing to death in his older years that he now comes off as a parody of himself. He is a distraction in what should have been a key and captivating role as Mr. Brooks' alter ego convincing him to keep on killing (no one sees or hears him but Mr. Brooks). An unknown actor might have been a better choice for this role.
Well, in spite of its serious flaws, this was still a riveting thriller and well worth your viewing. In a year of so-so films and no big standout performances, Kevin Costner's work here is Oscar nomination worthy (and about time too).
smart serial killer; dumb cop October 25, 2007
Viva (So. Cal.)
14 out of 14 found this review helpful
If it hadn't been for the dumbest cop ever born (the one played by Demi Moore), this would have gotten one more star.
Anyway, Costner does a marvelous job as a tormented serial killer addicted to thrill killing while also holding down a great job and doting on his wife and daughter. The daughter, however, may be a budding serial killer herself, and he wants to save her from becoming like her father.
William Hurt also is in full creepy mode as a manifestation of Costner's dueling personality, while comedian Dane Cook plays a would-be killer who wants Costner to tutor him in how to do it and not get caught.
There is some intrusive techno music and a Matrix-like hallway shoot-out that could have been done better. However, these are quibbles. I had a bigger problem with Moore's distracting divorce battle, impulsiveness, and general arrogance.
Mr. Brooks... October 26, 2007
Michelle Polk (Mississippi, USA)
13 out of 13 found this review helpful
Please stay out of my neighborhood. If you are looking for entertainment with excellent acting, this movie is for you. Kevin Costner and William Hurt are in their prime in this movie. The content of the movie is about a man obessesed with killing and then finds out he has passed that obessesion down to his daughter. I am apprehensive to say it is a good movie because of the content but as far as acting and drama with suspense...it is a good movie.
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