Product Description

MGM Mr. Brooks (Blu-ray)
Consider "Mr. Brooks."A successful businessman. A generous philanthropist. Aloving father and devoted husband. Seemingly, he's perfect. But Mr. Brooks has a secret... he is also the notorious Thumbprint Killer and no one has ever suspected it... until now.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10348 in DVD
• Brand: MGM
• Released on: 2007-10-23
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: AC-3, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, Dubbed, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Original language: English, Spanish
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish
• Dubbed in: Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: 3.00 pounds
• Running time: 120 minutes

Amazon.com
Consider Mr. Brooks: A successful businessman, a generous philanthropist, a loving father and devoted husband. Seemingly, he's perfect. But Mr. Brooks has a secret... he is also the notorious Thumbprint Killer and no one has ever suspected it... until now.

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

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

Customer Reviews

Disturbing...intriguing...
By day Mr. Brooks is a philanthropic businessman, loving husband, and doting father. By night he is a serial killer who is "addicted" to killing. He is spurred on in his killing by a voice inside of him who is personified by William Hurt. In the past Kevin Costner has been over-rated in some of his movie roles, but this time he shows some real acting skill and succeeds in creating the "flat affect" that is so often part of a psychopathic personality. As has been pointed out, the plot is full of holes big enough to drive a tank through, but certainly the movie keeps your attention and has some very intriguing moments.

Interesting and entertaining, but with serious flaws.
I don't have a problem with suspending disbelief for a film and the inplausible situations in this film are no exception. Overall, Mr. Brooks is a pretty good movie, though I do have two major reservations.

The first is a subplot involving an escaped murderer named Meeks who, with his psychotic girlfriend, make it their mission to exact revenge on Detective Atwood (Demi Moore). The problem here is that this subplot never even intersects the main story in an integral way. It seemed an excuse to throw two over-the-top action sequences into a movie that otherwise would (and should) have none. This subplot is eventually forced to resolution with the main story in off-screen actions made by the titular character (for no clear reason aside from his admiration for Atwood) and it could have been entirely edited out of the film (for want of about 7 minutes of footage) and none would have been the wiser. If they had done this, I would have given the movie 4 stars.

The second problem I have with this movie is the way they handle the cemetery scene. I'm sure the writers thought it was clever to have Brooks play with "Smith" a while, but the sequence felt cheesy and the drama was forced. The handling of this scene, along with the inclusion of the final "dream-sequence" (dream-sequences are cop-outs with very few exceptions) detracted from my sense of satisfaction at having watched this movie. The omenous atmosphere around Brooks' daughter was already established and palpable, making the dream sequence entirely unnecessary.

Mr. Brooks is not worth buying, but definitely worth renting.

A Creepy, Thoughtful Thriller
While some movies try to thrill you with a sub-standard plot, and others try to make you think and end up getting you confused, this movie finds the perfect balance between the two.

The premise is that the main character, a successful, highly-regarded doctor played by Kevin Costner, finds his mind suddenly haunted by the overwhelming urge to commit murder. After a run as the most notorious serial killer in his home town, "Costner" thought he had put those demons to bed...only to be reacquainted with them once again, this time with a thriving career and family.

Two psychological factors really made this movie memorable to me: First, is how absolutely compelling "Costner's" murdering impulses are. No matter what he tries (until the end, when his entire life is thrown into question), he can't seem to shake them. Secondly, because of that absolute obsession, Costner's character actually becomes sympathetic. Despite the fact that he is murdering people in cold blood, he still feel for him, knowing that in some way he wants to break free as much as we want him to.

Overall, this film stuck with me awhile after viewing it, as it grapples with the age-old philosophical debate of why humans kill other humans? The film suggests that the violent, horrifying personas we stereotype serial killers as could be completely false...and that is really where the creepiness lies. The urge could be in any one of us.