Despite it not doing great at the box office, I still had high hopes for Mr. Brooks. Sadly, this was a film that had a great concept, but failed in its execution.
Let me begin though, by singing the praises of Kevin Costner & William Hurt. Their scenes together are just electric. That is high praise from me considering I have never been a big fan of Costner's work. If only the film had given more time to Mr. Brooks and his alter ego. Instead, too much of the film deals with ancillary characters that just take up space. Time that could have been spent on developing who Mr. Brooks is, is instead focused on frustrating subplots like Dane Cook as a blackmailing photographer, Demi Moore as the lead detective, who`s also in the middle of a divorce, and Danielle Panabaker as Brooks` daughter, who may be a chip off the ol' block.
All the stuff involving Moore`s detective is particularly infuriating. While all of the subplots involving her do eventually get tied back into the main story, I would have been fine had they left them out altogether. They also try to create this relationship between Moore`s character and Brooks, similar to that found in Silence of the Lambs between Lecter & Clarice, but it just doesn`t work at all here.
Another annoying thing about the film is the director's decision to have some scenes so stylized; like Moore's shoot-out with another criminal she's hunting down. Those scenes just came off looking cartoonish and out-of-place in what should have been a simple, dark film.
Perhaps my frustration with this film comes from the fact that they treated it as if it were a sequel; that we were already familiar with the primary characters from a previous movie. In a summer filled with sequels, it would have been nice to have a film which properly introduces a new potential franchise character, but this was not it. Grade: C+
3 comments:
I agree with most of your sentiments, but I enjoyed this movie more than you did. I thought that Hurt was phenomenal. Costner is sort of a limited actor and I could have done without the nude scene, but he was capable. I totally agree that the shootout scene and the stabbing dream were too over-the-top and contrasted with the earlier, more dark killing scenes. I felt we could have done without the escaped killer and his girlfriend, but Dane Cook's character was necessary to the plot. I thought Demi did a good job as a bitter cop. I wonder if too much positioning for a sequel hurt this effort. But, in the end, I thought Hurt and the brilliance of Mr. Brooks' character earned this movie a stronger grade than C+.
Though I haven't seen the film yet, the idea of Costner as a vile killer struck me as potentially a great move. He can be understated, as long as it's not a comedy. In regard to Dane Cook, why do comedians have to be actors?
Great to see multiple comments in a thread. I generally agree with Dave's comments. I would have been fine with the Cook or Moore subplots by themselves, but with so much going on, it just became distracting. I totally agree that they were trying too hard to create a franchise without first establishing a proper foundation.
Dustin - maybe comedians want to be actors so that they don't have to feel like they have to be "on" whereever they go. Or maybe they do it just to annoy you. :)
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