Mr. Brooks

It's been quite a while since I've seen a good thriller. I think the last one I even attempted was "Premonition" (which was awful). But this weekend I made another attempt with the new Kevin Costner film, "Mr. Brooks", and let me tell you, I was pleasantly surprised.

First off, all bias aside, Dane Cook was fan-tab-u-los. I mean we all know he's fucking hilarious, but he brings a nice breath of fresh (and nicely acted) air to this seriously dramatic movie. Without D.C. it would be overly creepy film. Not that it isn't, but at least with Dane you know it's okay to laugh every now and again, even if it's inappropriate.


"Mr. Brooks" is deliciously evil. If you allow yourself to indulge in his fantasy world, you find can find yourself just as excited to see him get away with these vicious attacks on innocent people. William Hurt is devilishly cunning, he plays the evil Mr. Hyde to Costner's Dr. Jekyll. It's lovely to see them play off each other in the presence of the other characters, who have no idea of this inner turmoil going on, right in front of them.

Great twists and turns keep you on your toes throughout the whole film. When we finally left the theater I told my friend, "Now I can breathe." I felt the whole time that my heart was in my throat. You want him caught, but at the same time it would be like wanting yourself caught. You play along with him, he's your protaganistic antagonist, quite the oxymoron.

But I can't quit raving about Dane Cook. He is just phenomenal in this movie. He's so accidentally funny. Playing off Costner's cool demeanor, Cook is frantic and immature. Wetting his pants during the actual act, he still thinks he's man enough to pull the trigger in the end, only to have the tables turned quite graphically.

There is an insane amount of blood in this film. Weak stomachs should turn around at the door, but other than that excess this is a bare essential film. No big special effects or crazy fight scenes, save for the end. This movie even lacks one of the biggest factors in scary films, the music. But in this case it really works. This has to be one of the quietest films I've seen in a while. Note to all you "food smugglers" don't bring chips or anything in a bag bc EVERYONE will know. Sometimes I sneak in rice cakes instead of popcorn and I literally had to wait until the end of the film to even stick my hand in the bag, it made so much noise, due to the complete lack of noise in the movie.

Definitely see this movie, it won't disappoint you unlike most of the other summer flicks I've seen.

The JackScore: 4 out of 5 stars.