Mr. Brooks

Earl Brooks (Kevin Costner) is a pillar of the business community—and he’s also a longtime serial killer, with an unseen alter ego (William Hurt) constantly urging him on. But he slipped up on his last killing, and now an eyewitness (Dane Cook) wants to tag along on the next one. The script by Raynold Gideon and director Bruce A. Evans is a bit contrived and more than a bit gimmicky, with a surfeit of subplots (especially those involving Demi Moore as the investigating cop). But it all works, thanks to a number of clever twists, Evans’ tense direction and strong performances (including Marg Helgenberger and Danielle Panabaker as Costner’s wife and daughter). Best of all is the interplay between Costner and Hurt, giving what is essentially a writer’s conceit the heft of psychological truth.