MR. BROOKS review

This utterly ridiculous thriller asks an awful lot from its audience. First, we're expected to believe in 'wood-like' Kevin Costner as the perfect family man/pillar of the community who happens to be addicted to serial murder, and then that his murderous invisible friend would be William Hurt!

*INCONCEIVABLE! Fezzini declares.*

So, Mr. Brooks has been a good boy for quite some time, but we know this must change in the first act. Unfortunately he gets caught in the act by a pervy neighbor with a camera (Dane Cook) who later blackmails him in order to become his protégé. Unfortunate for me, I imagined Dane Cook getting off watching Kevin Costner. *Shudder*

On the case is police detective Demi Moore, who happens to be a multi-millionaire currently going through an ugly divorce. Oh, and also, she is being pursued by another serial killer who has just escaped custody.
And on top of this is another sub-plot concerning Mr. Brook's daughter, who comes home after dropping out of college for mysterious reasons.
This all makes for a mashed-up sloppy mess, plot holes and common sense be damned.

There are many opportunities for outright laughter throughout, most obvious of which is when Mr. Brooks ends up in an a silly disguise, which I think he stole from Ben Stiller on the set of Starsky and Hutch!

Except for William Hurt's performance as Marshall, who at least appears to be enjoying himself as the villianous imaginary friend, the characters are as thin as a razor blade. The intertwining subplots are too ridiculous to care about, but not bat-shit crazy enough to really groove on. It's an unfortunate curiosity at best, 'enjoy' it on cable with your buddies and a few drinks.