We just recently netflixed the movie “Mr. Brooks” with Kevin Costner, William Hurt and Demi Moore, and I have to say it was a pleasant surprise.  I even got through it with a hypercritical movie critic boyfriend watching it and slamming it for no apparent reason in the first opening scenes!  Kevin Costner does well as the seemingly normal, but definitely not normal Mr. Brooks.  Mr. Brooks is a wealthy businessman who apparently made his millions in some sort of glazing and product packaging industry.

We find out early on that his dual personality, played by William Hurt, is a cold blooded serial killer who keeps asking Mr. Brooks to do it again and again.  We also find that Mr. Brooks himself isn’t such a bad guy, but he’s sick - he’s very sick and part of him enjoys the killing as well, as his alter ego points out to him so many times. 

The movie about a split personality is played out uniquely, in that it actually shows William Hurt and Kevin Costner talking to eachother constantly, even when there are others in the room.  Of course, Kevin is not talking to himself, but this is how the movie chooses to portray his split personality and his communications with his second voice, and I have to say, they do pull it off. 

It seems hokie to describe it but they do a very good job of pulling off the talking out loud thing without it seeming invasive or silly to the other characters that are onscreen.  At times the movie reminds me of a sort of Silence of the Lambs, because the idea is that you love to hate the bad guy, but you are also secretly cheering for him to get away with it.  This movie accomplishes that dichotomy well. 

Also, a pleasant surprise was the usually annoying Dane Cook, who plays a guy who’s got dirt on Costner, but wants to exchange it for making him his first protege.  You might even say Cook channels himself into the role, which makes it work, ’cause you really don’t like his character.  He’s not smart, he’s sloppy, and he’s a violent man who can’t seem to translate his ill will into action.