Mr. BrooksMovie Reviews

Poster art for "Mr. Brooks."

Gifts + Promos

The Vow Free Gift

Buy tickets & receive a FREE 3-Month Love Forecast from Astrology.com!

Fandango Bucks

Send your sweetheart the gift of movies this Valentine’s Day!

Journey Sweeps

Enter for a chance to win a trip for 2 to Nicaragua!

Interactive Oscar Ballot

Who's taking home the Oscar? Cast your vote & challenge your friends on Facebook!

Need Help?
So-so
Avg. Critic Score: 45 out of 100 Mixed or average reviews Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
16 Iffy for 16+
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 75
    Rolling Stone | Peter Travers

    Listen to me: trash can surprise you. So don't get all elitist about the so-called cheap thrills in Mr. Brooks. Read full review

  • 75
    San Francisco Chronicle | Mick LaSalle

    The appeal of Mr. Brooks is as obvious as it is hard to resist: Kevin Costner as a serial killer. Read full review

  • 60
    Washington Post | Stephen Hunter

    What compels then isn't the overwrought plot, but the simpler things, the dynamics between the actors, the avuncularity between old pros Costner and Hurt and the class condescension between Costner and Cook. It has a fascinatin' rhythm. Read full review

  • 60
    Variety |

    Mr. Brooks is most effective when it's dealing with Earl and his conscience. Hurt and Costner are terrific together as two sides of the same personality and, again, the casting is what it's all about. Read full review

  • 50
    Entertainment Weekly | Owen Gleiberman

    Mr. Brooks begins promisingly, but it grows steadily more preposterous as it goes along, becoming the first feel-good serial-killer movie. Read full review

  • 40
    Los Angeles Times | Kevin Crust

    Evans and Gideon never really succeed in selling the idea that serial killing is a disease -- which would require a degree of realism that the slick, over-plotted Mr. Brooks doesn't otherwise aspire to. They seem to be content with occupying the audience with a series of twists and jolts. Read full review

  • 40
    The Hollywood Reporter | Kirk Honeycutt

    The film feels sleazy and nasty --- but without the pulp kick of filmmakers who know how to do sleazy and nasty. Read full review

  • 40
    The New York Times | Stephen Holden

    A werewolf movie masquerading as a thriller, it looks like a canny attempt by Bruce A. Evans, its director and screenwriter (with Raynold Gideon), to establish a "Saw"-like franchise using the names of fading '80s stars to lend the project a semblance of respectability. Read full review

  • 38
    USA Today | Claudia Puig

    Far-fetched, flimsy and uninvolving. Read full review

  • 10
    Wall Street Journal | Joe Morgenstern

    Mr. Brooks manages to be deeply loathsome -- no small feat for a film that's shallowly amateurish. Read full review

View more reviews for Mr. Brooks on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says Iffy for 16+ Costner's delusional serial killer isn't for kids.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that this graphic thriller isn't for kids, despite the fact that popular comedian Dane Cook co-stars (he plays a dark, repulsive character). There's graphic sex (breasts are visible, and plenty of activity is implied) and violence, including frantic murder scenes (victims realize they're about to be killed, scream, then suffer brutal injuries). Shots of broken, bloody dead bodies abound in crime scene tableaus and close-ups. Characters discuss murder and its motives and argue about family relationships (especially fathers and daughters). Language includes frequent use of "f--k."
  • Families can talk about our culture's fascination with serial killers. Do you think the media glamorizes these criminals and their brutal crimes? Does Mr. Brooks have anything in common with another famous movie serial killer, Hannibal Lecter? Families can also discuss the film's suggestion that murder can be "addictive." Do you think a tendency toward violence (or other addictions) can be passed on genetically? How does the film make its killer protagonist look relatively sympathetic? How does the movie frame the murders as art?
The good stuff
  • message true0 Positive messages: The protagonist is a serial killer; detective character is getting a divorce and has arguments with lawyers; college student drops out and announces she's pregnant (leads to discussion of abortion); discussion of genetic "passing on" of desire to murder.
What to watch for
  • violence false5 Violence: Bloody, graphic early murder scene (two people in bed are shot by the film's "hero," who puts bullets through their heads and chests) is repeated during the film from various angles in flashbacks. Killer keeps photos of dead bodies as "trophies" frequent discussion of methods of murder and images of stalking; discussions of other serial killer cases; crime scene shows blood on walls; detective is assaulted and ends up with sutures (bloody); dead body is pierced by multiple needles; shootout between detective and killer. Grisly late scene shows a man stabbed in neck with scissors, gasping, bleeding, and lurching as he dies.
  • sex false5 Sex: Serial killer's victims are shown in the middle of sex, in bed (naked back) -- their deaths result in explicit views of their naked torsos (woman's breasts visible repeatedly). Lots of cleavage shots. Discussion of sexual experiences ("You could see her nipples"). Killer appears naked (not explicit) as he ritually burns photos of dead bodies. A murder witness plans to use violent images to arouse himself sexually. Man appears in his bedroom in boxers; couple strips to their underwear and begins to have sex on a couch.
  • language false5 Language: Repeated use of "f--k" (usually in anger, once with "mother"); other language includes "s--t," "a--hole," "goddamnit," and "ass."
  • consumerism false0 Consumerism: USA Today headline.
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false3 Drinking, drugs and smoking: Killer attends meetings resembling Alcoholics Anonymous, identifying himself as an "addict." Meeting attendees smoke cigarettes; mention of steroids.
An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

Looking for more reviews? Movies.com Critics Say:

Dave White

0.5

Dave White Profile See Dave White's Profile

… a really, really, really, really, really bad movie … Read full review See Dave White's on MOVIENAME on Movies.com

Read more movie reviews at Movies.com

Mr. Brooks Featured Trailers + Video Clips

Facebook Movie Fans

Fan Fandango on Facebook