Reviewed by: Cathy Faltermayer
CONTRIBUTOR
Moral Rating: | Extremely Offensive |
Moviemaking Quality: |
|
Primary Audience: | Adults |
Genre: | Crime Thriller |
Length: | 1 hr. 35 min. |
Year of Release: | 2007 |
USA Release: |
June 1, 2007 |
About murder in the Bible
Why are humans supposed to wear clothes? Answer
Featuring |
Kevin Costner William Hurt Demi Moore Dane Cook Marg Helgenberger |
Director |
Bruce Evans |
Producer |
Thomas Augsberger Marc Schaberg Adam Rosenfelt |
Distributor |
![]() Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), owned by Amazon® through MGM Holdings, Inc. |
“The man who has everything has everything to hide.”
“All human beings… are commingled out of good and evil.”
—Robert Louis Stevenson, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
“Mr. Brooks” has exciting psychological twists, unpredictable story lines and awesome acting. The mannerisms of William Hurt and Kevin Costner resembled each other, at times I cannot tell them apart. Demi Moore does a great job of not over playing her character. Ultimately the acting and plot are not worth the disturbing significance of this movie. Christians and non Christians will be offended by the killings of Mr. Brooks and the likeability of his character.
The main character, Mr. Brooks, is a dual personality serial killer portrayed by Kevin Costner and William Hurt. When Marshall (Hurt’s persona) is controlling the mind, an unsuspecting couple is killed in cold blood as they lie in bed, of course naked. While Mr. Brooks (Costner’s persona) is in control, he attends AA meetings, as a sincere desire to change his behavior by using the 12 steps. In the midst of this conflict are the unsuspecting wife, the daughter, who is cunningly wise to the situation and Mr. Smith.
Mr. Smith’s character (played by Dane Cook) is the embodiment of today’s young generation. He wants to gain knowledge of his fascination quickly, by using Mr. Brooks. The way a teenager uses cheat codes to beat a video game, Mr. Smith wants the quick and easy path to serial killing.
In the center of this plot is Detective Atwood, played by Demi Moore. Detective Atwood is smarter than the average detectives working on the Thumbprint Serial Killer cases. She fascinates Mr. Brooks, by her imperfect search for certainty in her professional and personal life.
Unfortunately, there is too much violence. I am referring to the sensual, methodical foreplay of Mr. Brook’s serial killing. Graphic images of the killing are disturbing, but the psychological aggression leading up to the killing is repulsive. This is the kind of movie that desensitizes society to the evil actions in our society. The audience is forced to see Mr. Brooks/Marshall as the victim. Aside from the violence, profanity and nudity the movie still sends a spine-chilling message. The serial killer, who struggles with family issues and his conscience, is more like you and I.
Bottom line is: I do not want to watch a movie that relays sympathy for a serial killer. We all have evil thoughts, but we also have self control. I would not recommend this movie to anyone, Christians maybe easily offended by the ease at which the murders are planned and committed.
Violence: Extreme / Profanity: Heavy / Sex/Nudity: Heavy
See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Very Offensive / Moviemaking quality: 5