Mr Brooks review

Counter-casting goes awry in Bruce A Evans’ psycho-thriller. Kevin Costner, every inch the charisma drain, stars against type as the titular businessman, family chap and part-time Thumbprint Killer. But he also acts against the film, treating a lurid, trashy (ie potentially fun) set-up as po-faced character drama. How he found that line in a plot that features an equally implausible Demi Moore as the millionaire heiress cop on Brooks’ tail is anyone’s guess. Little respite lies in a sub-plot involving Dane Cook as a wannabe wacko bribing Brooks. Or another that centres on Brooks’ daughter (Danielle Panabaker), who brings home a crisis of dubious psychological conviction. Everyone involved takes this tat seriously except William Hurt, who goes gung-ho as the alter-ego goading Brooks’ kill frenzies. If only they’d cut out the middle-Kev and cast Hurt instead…