A sleazy stab at career resuscitation for Kevin Costner, Mr. Brooks stars the one-time Robin Hood as a mild-mannered business tycoon by day and sadistic serial killer by night. Costner might have been able to pull off this sort of image overhaul if he had selected better material, but Mr. Brooks is at turns seedy and silly. If we’re not being subjected to flashbacks of Brooks’ murder of a young couple mid-tryst, then we’re being asked to swallow ludicrous details, including the fact that Brooks explains his late-night absences to his wife by claiming to be working in his home pottery studio. After the 300th ashtray, wouldn’t she begin to get suspicious?
