Mr. Brooks

Admittedly, the summer movies I’ve reviewed, I’ve given bad reviews to. That’s not my fault. I am not a movie hater, as I’ve accused my friends of being. These are the people who hate every movie they see, being over critical of every aspect of every movie. Not me. And Mr. Brooks (as well as my track record) is proof. This is the first great Summer 2007 movie I’ve seen.

Mr. Brooks is about an entrepreneur, a philanthropist, a family man, a good guy. But this good guy is also addicted to murder. And he is so smart that he doesn’t get caught. He isn’t even a suspect until part way through the movie. That’s in part, due to his friend, Marshall, who is imaginary. What is so great about this movie is not only the story line, but how it’s fairly fast paced; it keeps the audience thinking about what will happen next. There are no things that go unexplained and I didn’t think it was predictable. Oh, and the acting. William Hurt, who played Marshall, was excellent.

Hurt is someone I’ve never seen or don’t remember seeing before, despite that fact that he has been in movies like The Village and Syriana. His performance as Marshall was excellent. The character he played was smooth, laid back and very convincing. He ‘helped’ Mr. Brooks commit these murdered by covering the bases Brooks ‘didn’t.’ He was able to portray this dark character in a great way. Costner and Hurt worked well together. The dynamic duo they created worked out very well. Even though Brooks was crazy, you couldn’t really tell. Then, there was Dane Cook.

Without giving too much away, you could tell Cook’s character, “Mr. Smith,” was a little crazy. That, I think, was well done by Cook. He was able to bring out the insanity in Mr. Smith that maybe we should have seen in Brooks, but didn’t because of how smart Brooks is.

Overall, the movie was excellent, and highly recommended. It’s a great thriller that keeps you thinking and doesn’t slow down. Everything that happens is deliberate and moves towards the ending in someway, even if you don’t see it until the end (ahem, or while you’re walking to your car…)