Mr. Brooks
Somehow This Film Survives Some Massive Flaws
Mr. Brooks is a wacky film that likely sneaked past lots of filmgoers. Kevin Costner plays rich businessman Brooks who lives in Portland, was made Chamber of Commerce’s Man of the Year and loves to kill people on the side for no other reason than it feels good. Brooks has a little man who lives in his head named Marshall, played by William Hurt. Now, Brooks is attempting to leave his killing ways behind and even attends 12 step programs in hopes of leaving his addiction behind. Does that sounds like a weird film? Well it is.
Mr. Brooks is fun enough but it littered with problems, one very large problem is the remarkably forced and unnecessary character of Detective Tracy Atwood (Demi Moore) who is attempting to track down and capture Brooks. What makes Atwood’s character just plain foolish is that she is worth something like a $100 million dollars but is still working as a detective. Who writes stuff like that? While trying to track down serial killers Atwood is also in the middle of a divorce and is dealing with a husband attempting to milk her for every penny she is worth. It is a stupid plot point, just plain stupid.
Now, the stupidity doesn’t end there. Brooks also has a daughter who is in college and she may also have a small addiction to the whole killing random people thing, but that is unclear and I will not spoil it. Not dumb enough, well, then there is the issue of Brooks being blackmailed by a nutjob named Bafford who witnessed one of his killings and now wants Brooks to show him the ropes. Yeah, it’s stupid alright. And then there is the issue of Marshall, I’ll just let you see how that all plays out. It’s pretty stupid too.
Having hammered Mr. Brooks, with all its problems, you might be surprised to hear that Mr. Brooks does have its moments. While the script is all over the place, Costner and Hurt are clearly having a good time acting like total psycho freaks. In this regard Mr. Brooks is campy fun, the sets are visually interesting and the cinematography is fine as well. While Mr. Brooks is not a blockbuster, the film brought in something near double its modest budget and is probably seen as a minor success. Final verdict, there are enough campy laughs to watch Mr. Brooks on cable and the attention deficit disorder of the script must be seen to be believed. In fact that awkwardness of the script is entertaining in an unintentional sort of way. This film is all over the place, but somehow salvages itself from being a complete wreck. What can I say, it sometimes happens, even if by accident.
Story C- (The script is weak and could have been greatly assisted by deleting the entire Detective Atwood storyline.)
Acting B (Mr. Brooks has one major saving grace and that is the campy fun of Costner and Hurt.)
Visuals B
Originality/Innovation C- (You have absolutely seen it all before, right down to the dream sequences.)
Enjoyability Grade C+ (Again, Costner and Hurt make the film.)
Home Theater/HD Factor B- (Mr. Brooks is well shot, which really helps the film quite a bit.)
Overall Grade C+ (Mr. Brooks is a rare film that somehow survives numerous massive flaws. From this perspective it is almost worthy of study.)
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