Mr. Brooks

Too many storylines + unsympathetic main character + pinch of Silence of the Lambs= tepid mess

I'll admit to being interested to see Mr. Brooks (obvi, since I rented it). I was even willing to overlook the not-so-positive reviews and give the movie a chance. I am pretty over Kevin Costner, but serial killer movies can be interesting. I did actually enjoy the part where his character is actually conflicted over being addicted to killing people; that aspect is not really explored. Over and over, however, I had the suspicion that the screenwriters had the script for The Silence of the Lambs in the back of their minds while they were writing the film. Granted, the main character is a rich girl with daddy issues, rather than a poor one, but that doesn't make Demi Moore's character correspondingly more interesting. None of the frisson between the killer and the cop is present between Det. Atwood and Mr. Brooks, even though they try to throw that it at the very last minute.

Nope, instead of having any of the elements that made Silence great, Mr. Brooks is an over-cooked modge-podge of storylines. It's as if the plot were dealt out with cards, and Mr. Costner and Ms. Moore needed to have nearly equal stacks (of course his is slightly larger, as he is the eponymous character, after all). Perhaps they had two movies that didn't quite stand alone, so the writers thought they would combine them. Take away any one of the too-many plot lines; daughter with a secret, messy divorce, trust fund, imaginary friend, serial killer who is out for vengeance, and the whole house of cards falls. But leave them all in, and there is just too much to cover while still managing not to get in-depth on much of anything. The end result is more unsatisfying that intriguing.

Some of the story lines are more interesting, I will give you that. Who wouldn't want to track down and kill the guy who cut you off in traffic? That was an amusing way to select a target for the irritating Mr. Smith. (Seriously, he was a jerk, and his storyline was satisfying. I liked how the opposing natures sorted themselves out. How did he think that he could compete?) The fact that the guy just so happens to be the soon-to-be money-grubbing ex is just a little too pat. (If you see the movie, this won't really count as a spoiler; you may not be able to see it coming from miles away, but this movie sure does let you see every "twist" from at least around the corner). It was pretty funny though, to follow Mr. Brooks' decision to observe the vengeful serial killer out to get the detective who is hunting him (instead of cat-and-mouse, the game is survival-of-the-most-predatorial).

I read on the IMDB trivia page for this film, that it was planned as a trilogy. What did they think would be left to mine for plot in the future? To follow up with the daughter? That would be interesting, if Mr. Brooks' fears come true. I admit to being truly baffled to the purpose of the last few minutes of the film, if there was not a planned follow-up. I half want them to do it, just to see if they could come up with an interesting story. The opportunity is too great, though, for another over-blown thriller with little satisfactory payout, so perhaps better just to leave it be.

--See 'Comments' for more review--