Mr. Brooks - Available on DVD

“Mr. Brooks,” starring Kevin Costner, isn’t a movie for everyone. It has an interesting premise – one of pitting good against evil by creating a central character with an alter ego. However, it’s not really an original premise because Robert Louis Stevenson wrote Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in 1886. Costner plays Earl Brooks, Portland’s Man of the Year, a man with a gruesome secret. You see, Earl is the Thumb Print Killer and he’s a very, very smart serial killer. To create audience sympathy for Earl, there’s Marshall (William Hurt), his alter ego, ever goading Earl to murder and mayhem. Earl’s foil, the police detective (Demi Moore) investigating the Thumb Print Killer’s crimes, would have been more effective if she had been a genuine threat to Earl. Both Costner and Hurt are effective, but Moore’s role lacks credibility. The movie has a few twists, but I’d wait until it’s out on DVD. (6/8/07)