I will watch anything with William Hurt in it. This is the main reason why I always put Mr. Brooks on my "to watch" list. I heard some mixed reactions to the film and I also heard a lot of negative reactions to it. I never bothered to read into it since almost everytime I would begin to do so there would be a spoiler alert. Or every time that I would talk to someone who had seen it they would begin with "I'm gonna spoil it for you..." and I would just stop them there.
If you do not want this movie spoiled then don't keep reading.
Just looking at the trailers and TV spots of the film made me wonder where all the hate was coming from. The logical guess was Dane Cook. I thought that it had to be Dane Cook, right? Wrong. I also heard a lot of bad things about the Demi Moore subplot. That had to be it then, right? Kind of. The real reason why Mr. Brooks is horrible is not because of one or two things. It is because of several things that just become too much and destroy whatever good things it had going for it. Oh, and Dane Cook is actually one of the best things about the film. Seriously.
The main problem that Mr. Brooks has is that it crams way too much plot, story, characters, subplots, and even more sub-sub-plots to the point where it loses focus on what makes the film so interesting at times - Mr. Brooks. First, let me list down all the plots and subplots. While watching the film I was really into it at first but then after a certain scene (more on that later) I just went into "this is fucking ridiculous!" mode and started seeing the film spiral out of control and gather up plots.
So, here are the plots/storylines that the film has going on during its 2 hour run time.
1. Mr. Brooks (Kevin Costner) trying to get rid of his addiction of killing
2. Mr Brooks being blackmailed by a normal guy (Dane Cook) and forcing him to teach him how to kill.
3. Mr. Brooks has a female detective (Demi Moore) on his ass.
OK. Lets pause here. These 3 plots are great enough. Sure, they are a little bit cliched but it could get by with just having these 3 plots. But nooooo...
4. The female detective is getting divorced and her husband wants millons of dollars. Uh...why is this here?
5. Mr. Brooks daughter just dropped out of College and she is hiding something.....she is a killer too!! (OMG!!!!!!!)
6. The female detective also has to deal with this other serial killer which just recently broke out of jail and wants to kill her. Seriously, why is this here?
7. Mr. Brooks has to save his daughter from being caught by the police.
I think that's all of them. The film just keeps on adding on so many subplots and subplots to those subplots that it might leave you in awe. It did to me. Ok, maybe I am being harsh on it because of the many silly plots and plot twists. Ok. Now let me get back to that one certain scene I mentioned earlier.
There is a scene that occurs during this film which might just be the most ridiculous scene I have seen so far this year. Demi Moore goes to meet with her lawyer about her ongoing divorce (once again..why is this in the movie? I guess it adds depth or something to her character). They grab a cup of coffee and talk about how much Moore hates her ex husband. If this was not unnecessary enough they then say bye and walk their own separate ways. As Demi is walking away a van with an open door appears and a guy just snatches her from the street. Action music kicks in, 24 kind of cinematography kicks in too, and an action scene begins where the guy (who is the recently escaped convict she put away) tries to rape her and kill her. This whole scene ends with a car chase of sorts, the van hitting another car, and Demi Moore flying out of the van for a second or two and then into the windshield of a cab. The scene cuts and ashe is at a hospital only getting a couple of stitches. WHAT. There is really little to no purpose for this scene.
I'm sorry if I am ranting but I just cant help it. It was at that point where I just started to see the film spiral down a dark,dark hole.
Also, if one unnecessary action scene wasn't enough there is another one later on in the film. Moore meets up with the baddie in the van and a shoot out (I kid you not) kicks in with some action music and the lights going on and off. I wish I was making this up. It really is cringe worthy bad.
All while this is going on...for I don't know what reasons...Mr. Brooks is busy with his many subplots. I wont go into that. I am already tired about writing on and on about this mess of a film.
I will say that the film does have a couple of good things. The Mr. Brooks storyline is actually interesting when its not distracted by other storylines. I really liked the interactions of William Hurt, playing his alter ego, and Kevin Costner. If the film would have just been them two and the conflict with the a man blackmailing them, it would have actually been pretty great. Other than the Hurt/Costner relationship the only other thing that is good is Dane Cook as the guy blackmailing Mr. Brooks. Sure, he doesn't knock it out of the park but he surprisingly brings some fun to the film and doesn't do a bad job at all.
I don't have anything witty or clever to write as the final paragraph for this long rant. I will just end it on this note: fuck this movie.
- D
Oh shit! I was about to click on "publish post" but I forgot to write about one major thing...the ending! I won't give it away but I will say that it does the always charming "wow...I cant believe that happened....oh wait nevermind...it was just a dream". It's as if the film tells you "Oh, so you think I'm being ridiculous? Well, check this shit out!" Incredible.
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