Hidden Figures, one of the most buzzed-about movies of the awards season, has finally been given its wide release. The true story of how a trio of African-American women were largely responsible for NASA putting a man into space in the early 1960s has attracted much buzz for its subject matter as well as its cast, which includes the likes of Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, and Kevin Costner.
It’s a rare supporting turn for Costner, who is mostly known for his starring roles in films, many of which most were quick to brand as vanity projects which usually capitalized on the actor’s looks and overall box-office bankability. The Costner of the last decade, however, bears little resemblance to his ‘90s persona and boasts a newfound penchant for taking on projects which are decidedly outside his comfort zone, one of which remains the solid, yet still-unheralded thriller Mr. Brooks.
In the film, Costner plays the title character, Earl Brooks, a successful businessman who has it all, including a loving family and plenty of wealth. But Earl has a secret: he’s actually addicted to killing. Having not murdered anyone in quite some time, Earl finds himself egged on by his alter ego Marshall (William Hurt) to go revisit his dark desire of killing. When he does, he catches the attention of Detective Tracy Atwood (Demi Moore), who is immediately hot on his pursuit, as well as a man calling himself Mr. Smith (Dane Cook), who has discovered Earl’s secret.
Mr. Brooks definitely belongs to the serial killer genre, especially given its scenes of violence, which prove just dark enough for a glossy production such as this to come off as reputable. There are also plenty of scenes in which Earl devilishly revels in his favorite maniacal pastime while also trying to fight against it. This is more than brilliantly played out in the moments between him and Marshall, who acts as a sort of anti-Jiminy Cricket, taunting Earl and preying on his need to spill blood. It’s clear that Marshall represents the dark and sinister yet comforting voice most addicts succumb and cling to. In fact, where Mr. Brooks really surprises is in the way in which it paints the act of serial killing as an addiction, a disease almost on par with alcoholism in which Earl’s need to kill and the satisfaction he draws from it imparts a one-of-a-kind high.
Making sure the audience has more than just a disturbed businessman and his secret acts to focus their attention on, the minds behind Mr. Brooks offer up a very worthy police procedural in the storyline centering around Tracy. The character is loaded with backstory, so much so that an entire movie could be made on her alone. During the course of Mr. Brooks, we see Tracy not only trail the elusive title character, but also deal with a messy divorce and try to outsmart an escaped convict she helped put away who is now seeking revenge. Through it all, we see a determined female detective who never loses focus on the man she is hunting, a man who becomes so fascinated by her to the point where he tries to get inside her head and alter the course of Tracy’s life. It’s interesting to see with every scene how the two become more and more obsessed with each other in ways which at times extend beyond the parameters of cop and killer.
Everyone in Mr. Brooks seems to have come to work to play judging by the game and lively performances the cast manages to turn in. Earl Brooks is truly Costner’s most tour-de-force role to date, and the actor doesn’t waste a minute of it, making the titular character someone to be both pitied and feared. Moore, meanwhile, never found a better vehicle to suit her acting persona. The actress plays Tracy with just the right mix of toughness and vulnerability to make her seem real. Cook proves he’s more than just a comic trying to act by taking on a role in a non-comedy film and holding his own. Finally, Hurt makes the wise decision not to overplay what could have been an overly theatrical part and turns Marshall into a delightfully warm and playful sort of bogeyman. Other names including Marg Helgenberger as Earl’s wife Emma, Danielle Panabaker as their daughter Jane (who is harboring a secret of her own), and Jason Lewis as Tracy’s sleazy soon-to-be ex-husband add more color to the film.
Critical reaction to Mr. Brooks was decidedly mixed, with some praising the darkness of the story and others claiming the film contained too many sub-plots to be enjoyable. Audience reaction mirrored that of the critics to a point. While the film did manage to turn a small profit (despite being released in the middle of a typical blockbuster-filled summer), its returns were not enough to either consider Mr. Brooks a success or continue with the proposed sequels that Costner himself had announced during the movie’s press tour.
The main drawback with thrillers in general is that by this time, everyone knows the conventions of the genre so thoroughly that it’s hard to surprise audiences anymore. Mr. Brooks manages to temporarily dispel that myth by offering up a colorfully multi-layered entry into the genre which is literally quite unlike most which have come before. Most, if not all, of this can be attributed to the film’s unique architecture and the various subplots within, all of which seamlessly come together in the end. In an era where audiences can see everything coming a mile away, Mr. Brooks is that rare collage of a thriller where very few, if any, moves can be anticipated.
Get it at Amazon:
Mr. Brooks — [Blu-ray] | [DVD] | [Amazon Video]
