By Curt Schleier

Kevin Costner has an incredible body of work: FIELD OF DREAMS, BULL DURHAM, NO WAY OUT, and, of course, DANCES WITH WOLVES.  I’m even a fan of what some call his minor work: THE BODY GUARD, TIN CUP, and FOR LOVE OF THE GAME.

So you understand why I can forgive him the occasional WATERWORLD or THE POSTMAN.  Everyone needs a post-apocalyptic disaster in their lives.  I have one, though many of you may simply refer to it as a marriage.  But I digress.  My point simply is that while I will forgive Costner much, I cannot forgive MR. BROOKS.

This silly piece of nonsense is made much worse because everyone involved seems to take it so seriously.  It takes a while before you realize that this isn’t a satire.

Earl Brooks is the Portland Chamber of Commerce’s Man of the Year.  He runs a successful business, has a wonderful and loving wife (Marg Helgenberger), a daughter, Jane (Danielle Panabaker).  But there is another side to him.  He’s a psychopathic serial killer who’s been quiet for two years because he’s been attending AA meetings. Who knew that AA could still the urges of vicious killers?

But Brooks has an inner voice named Marshall that urges him to return to his miscreant ways.  Actually it’s not so much an inner voice as it is William Hurt, who sits behind Earl in the car and acts as his advisor.  Marshall has been doing a relatively good job because Brooks has escaped detection.  But Earl’s latest murder is of a couple who enjoyed making love in front of an open window.   Earl doesn’t notice the open blinds until it’s too late: his image has been captured by an amateur photographer, who becomes known as Mr. Smith (Dane Cook).  Smith doesn’t want to turn Brooks in; he was exhilarated by what he saw and wants to take part in Earl’s next homicide.


Earl is known as the thumbprint killer because he leaves his victims’ thumbprint killer, because he signs his scenes with his victim’s thumbprints.  The detective assigned the case is Tracy Atwood (Demi Moore).  To call Ms. Moore’s acting wooden is to insult the nation’s forest.  However, she does appear to be a sturdy oak, since she manages to survive kidnappings, shootings and being thrown from a van in an accident, all with nary a broken bone.

Atwater was responsible for putting another serial killer, known as the Hangman, who just escaped from prison and is out to get her. 

So is Atwater’s husband.  Atwater is the daughter of a local mogul and a multi-millionaire, though no one satisfactorily explains why she’s a cop.  Her husband, Jesse (Jason Lewis) and she are going through an ugly divorce proceeding.  He is asking for a multi-million-dollar settlement, though no one satisfactorily explains why he is entitled to anything, since he is the one who fooled around on her.


Adding another stupid element is daughter Jane who comes home from college ostensibly because she is pregnant but actually because she murdered a classmate using a hatchet.  “She has what I have,” Earl tells Marshall.

I won’t tell you the ending.  Why spoil the surprise.  But everyone is happy.

There are some good moments in the film. Once you understand the way they communicate, the interplay between Marshall and Earl is at times chilling, a credit to Hurt’s abilities and ghoulish appearance more than the script.  The features are also above average, especially a feature about the writing the film that is better than the film itself.