Mr. Brooks

Last night my wife Connie and I went to see the new Kevin Costner film, "Mr. Brooks" largely on the basis of a rave review by Gene Shalit of the Today Show.  Shalit said the film was well written and suspenseful and that both Kevin Costner and William Hurt are terrific in their shared role, which is to say that they both act out a part of the disturbed psyche of "Earl" who is a scion of the community and also a serial killer in secret.

The flick is indeed riveting and you won't have a dull moment.  Demi Moore plays a Portland homicide detective with genuine skill.  The writing is superb.

This is also the bloodiest movie I've seen since Sam Peckinpaugh's "Straw Dogs" and you should be forewarned of this if you haven't seen the film.  Gene Shalit was so attentive to the movie's virtues that he forgot to say how astonishingly brutal it is.  This omission probably has something to do with the enormous weight of his moustache.  I don't really know how heavy Gene Shalit's moustache is, but it's a safe bet that it's heavier than say, your average suburban squirrel.

I know that if I had a squirrel on my lip I'd forget to tell you things.

Kevin Costner is truly amazing in this flick.  He's a cross between the man in the gray flannel suit and the Zodiac killer.  That's not an easy act to get away with, unless you work for the State Department.

Anyway, if you see this film be prepared for some serious carnage.

As for me, I felt that one of the minor characters in "Mr. Brooks" who "gets it" was a lot like someone I really don't like and accordingly I had some quasi-pathologized catharsis which is pretty much what people go to the movies for nowadays.  Yep.  Even a paragon of virtue like moi can enjoy some symbiotic viciousness.  And that's also part of the film's plot so I can't say any more about the matter.

By the way, Gene Shalit and Patch Adams have pretty much the same wardrobe.  I wonder where they shop?

S.K.

Comments

[Shumanitutankaowachi]

I'm with you. Loved it and loved Kevin's performance, but then again, I always do.
Take care.