Mr. Brooks - The killer in you

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Movie
German title Mr. Brooks - The killer in you
Original title Mr. Brooks
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 2007
length 121 minutes
Age rating FSK 18, 16 (abridged version)
JMK 16
Rod
Director Bruce A. Evans
script Bruce A. Evans
Raynold Gideon
production Raynold Gideon
Kevin Costner
Jim Wilson
music Ramin Djawadi
camera John Lindley
cut Miklos Wright
occupation

Mr. Brooks is an American thriller from 2007 . Directed by Bruce A. Evans , Kevin Costner stars as a serial killer.

action

Earl Brooks leads a seemingly normal life in Portland , Oregon . He is a very successful businessman and respected citizen and married to Emma. Their daughter Jane is going to college.

Brooks is hiding a dark secret, however: he has a split personality that makes him a brutal serial killer - the "thumbprint killer". By attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings , he managed to get his "addiction" under control for two years. One day, however, his alter ego Marshall comes back - Brooks relapses and commits a double homicide of a couple he had recently seen having sex in their bedroom. After the fact, Brooks finds that the curtains were not drawn.

Brooks receives a visit from an amateur photographer who calls himself Mr. Smith in the next few days. Brooks blackmailed Brooks with photos of the murder that he took from his apartment in the opposite skyscraper. But he doesn't want any money from him for it: He wants to accompany Brooks on his nightly murder tour and "join in". Brooks agrees with him that he will take him with him, but will then be handed the photos of evidence and both will go their separate ways again.

Investigator Tracy Atwood, who comes from a wealthy family, investigates the murder of the "thumbprint killer". She has separated from her husband Jesse, who and his lawyer Sheila are demanding a horrific severance payment. In addition, an inmate named Thornton Meeks escapes from prison, who was convicted by Atwood at the time. This, it is believed, now wants to take revenge on Atwood for it.

Atwood investigates the area around the crime scene and questions the residents of the high-rise building opposite. They include a Mr. Bafford, the man who posed as Mr. Smith to Brooks. However, he explains that he did not see anything on the night of the murder. Brooks then meets with Mr. Smith and they look for their murder victim.

Smith tells Brooks about the curious investigator who learns who is investigating the murders against him. Brooks, in turn, tells Smith about his "addiction" that has developed through killing. In the meantime, the two have found their victim: the driver of a pickup truck, who previously ruthlessly cut their lane on the autobahn, is said to be murdered the next evening. But shortly before that, Brooks sees the escaped Meeks and explains to Smith that he does not want to murder the selected person. Though Smith doesn't like that at all, the two of them arrange to meet up the next night to carry out another murder.

Brooks' daughter Jane receives an unexpected visit from the police the next morning. Jane, who just dropped out of college in California and is pregnant, is questioned about a homicide case at her college - which also makes her a suspect. In conversation with the investigators, Brooks realizes that his daughter is not telling the truth and fears that she suffers from the same "murder addiction" as him. In the following conflict - expressed cinematically through a dialogue with his alter ego Marshall - Brooks makes the decision to help his daughter by flying to California under a false identity and committing another homicide there at college.

Brooks' plan works: the police are now investigating a serial murder in California, which relieves his daughter. He has also found a murder victim for Mr. Smith: himself. Because he assumes that Mr. Smith will kill him and that sooner or later he will be caught by the police anyway. He wants to "free" himself from his murderous addiction. But before that, the two break into the apartment of Detective Atwood's husband, and Brooks kills Jesse and his attorney while making love. Smith urinates in his pants with excitement, leaving his DNA on the floor.

Meanwhile, Detective Atwood learned from the neighbors in the skyscraper that Mr. Bafford had photographed the murdered couple across from his apartment several times. From this she concludes that he must know something or is the perpetrator himself. To clarify, she forcibly enters Smith's home to look for evidence. But the apartment is emptied, only a crumpled piece of paper from the moving company with the new address of the tenant is on the floor. When she gets there, she meets Meeks in the hallway. In the shootout that follows, Meeks and his girlfriend are badly hit. Before he can fall into the hands of Atwood, however, he first kills his partner and then himself.

After the murder of Atwood's ex-husband and his lawyer, Smith wants to kill Brooks - as expected by him. But Brooks remains calm and explains to Smith his plan, how he can kill him "better" - because he wants it too. They drive to a cemetery where Smith is supposed to shoot him in front of a dug grave so that he falls into the pit and Smith can cover it with earth. Smith pulls the trigger, but nothing happens. At that moment Brooks tells him that he broke into Smith's apartment and disabled the firing pin on Smith's gun. He also stole the photos from Smith's safe deposit box and didn't want to die after all. Brooks has another weapon with him in case he tried to be shot by Smith. But since he wants to see the birth of his grandchild and no longer seeks death, Brooks in turn kills Smith and buries him.

Over the next few days, Brooks learned from the newspaper that the police had identified the "thumbprint killer" through DNA traces at the crime scene: a certain Mr. Bafford (Mr. Smith for Brooks) was wanted as the perpetrator. He also reads that the escaped inmate Meeks killed himself while fleeing from the police. Mr. Brooks calls Detective Atwood and tells her that the murders of her ex and his lawyer were no accident. Atwood initially believes Bafford is talking to her and lets her partner overhear. He asks her why she became a cop. She tells him that her father never wanted a daughter and that she always felt it. After the call, Brooks throws the cell phone off the roof. However, Atwood is convinced that she did not speak to Bafford.

Brooks doesn't want to commit murders anymore: Fearing that his daughter has the same illness as himself and wants to take his place, he dreams that his daughter will stab him with scissors. The film ends with Brooks' prayer: “God give me the serenity to accept the things that I cannot change and give me the courage to change the things that I can change and give me the wisdom to do that To distinguish one from the other. Let me accept the sinful world as it is and not as I would like it to be and let me trust that the right thing will happen if I surrender myself to your will, so that I may be happy and deeply happy with you next life to all eternity. Amen."

reception

Reviews

James Berardinelli wrote on ReelViews that the film was a "curious mixture of the great idea and kitchen psychology" ("of high concept and low psychology"). However, it works and offers tension. Berardinelli praised the performances by Kevin Costner and William Hurt, which were "both very good". The portrayal of Demi Moore seems "bland" and implausible. The film can be described as a “ B-Movie ” with an “A cast”.

"Cleverly constructed neo-noir thriller with convincing actors and outstanding camera work that pointedly presents the pitch-black story."

- Lexicon of international film

The German Film and Media Assessment FBW in Wiesbaden awarded the film the rating “particularly valuable”.

Gross profit

According to the Box Office Mojo website , Mr. Brooks grossed $ 48,121,900 worldwide (based on a $ 20 million production cost).

background

The film was shot in Portland , Oregon and Shreveport , Louisiana . Bruce Evans said on the director's commentary on the DVD that the film would be the first in a trilogy . In April 2009, actress Danielle Panabaker said she would have liked to work on two more parts.

The band Asking Alexandria wrote the song Hey There Mr. Brooks for their album Stand Up And Scream , which makes reference to the film.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Certificate of Release for Mr. Brooks - The murderer in you . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry, November 2007 (PDF; test number: 111 921 K).
  2. ^ Certificate of Release for Mr. Brooks - The murderer in you . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry, April 2008 (PDF; abridged version).
  3. ↑ Age rating for Mr. Brooks - The murderer in you . Youth Media Commission .
  4. ^ Review by James Berardinelli
  5. ↑ Mr. Brooks - The murderer in you. In: Lexicon of international films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  6. ↑ Mr. Brooks - The killer in you on fbw-filmbwertung.com
  7. ↑ Mr. Brooks (2007) . In: Box Office Mojo . Retrieved January 11, 2009.
  8. ↑ Mr. Brooks (2007) . In: IMDB . Retrieved May 2, 2017.
  9. ↑ Mr. Brooks a Trilogy - CanMag
  10. ^ Panabaker Describes Alternate Friday the 13th Kill . Shock Till You Drop. April 7, 2009. Archived from the original on April 9, 2009. Retrieved on April 7, 2009.