Other than having a couple minor problems with this film, I thought it was great. Kevin Costner isn’t an actor for which I have a particular liking. He’s simply average in a number of movies, or poor in a handful, but he does have some standout work that helps redeem those other, lesser films and performances. This is one of those great standout performances from him. The movie is both a standard psychological thriller and a unique one at the same time. While it takes many of the twists and turns of a genre film, it presents it in a very interesting way, with particularly great characters and ideas in the mix. I’ll mention the couple things in the movie I had a problem with at the end of the review, to avoid spoilers.

Writing: As something of a first person narrative, the writing on this film contains some fascinating moments of detached insight. Personally, I find serial killer movies that feature the killer in an introspective framework rather fascinating. This one does it in a way that’s not only a great way for the killer to analyze himself on screen for the audience, but also acts as a rather unique method for his madness. Then there’s the cool family aspect of it all, which is sprinkled in quite interestingly.

Production: Filming and editing is done in standard psychological thriller form, which isn’t a criticism in particularly. It’s solid with nothing to really complain about. Cinematography, sound, sets, locations, costumes - all of it is up to the task. This isn’t a movie that’s gonna knock your socks of in that regard - it’s more about narrative and performance.

Cast: Like I said, Costner is quite good as Mr. Brooks. For most of the movie, he’s cool and collected, and Costner makes all that work very well. But what really shines are the moments where he gives in to his darker side. Speaking of which, I must praise William Hurt’s performance. His little “devil-on-the-shoulder” mannerisms are great, and so much fun to watch. Demi Moore is surprisingly good in a fairly unusual role - which is given an unusual dimension for such a character. Her performance is excellent, and I do wish she’d get more high profile roles. She was the one saving grace of Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle and was particularly good in Bobby. Dane Cook is well cast - though I think Ryan Reynolds might have been a slightly better fit (Cook always reminds me of a second-choice Reynolds substitute actor). Danielle Panabaker, an actress who continues to impress, slips in a rather sly and interesting performance. The rest of the supporting cast is populated with a talented cast, from Marg Helgenberger to Lindsay Crouse to Reiko Aylesworth.

Music: Ramin Djawadi has done some decent work on TV shows like Prison Break, and has had an association with Hans Zimmer’s Remote Control cadre of composers in the past. His score shows some of that influence, with a bit of Clint Mansell’s style mixed in. The score is mildly stylish and pretty effective. Not a best score of the year candidate, but perfectly solid.

OK, here’s the couple complaints. Spoilers ahead. One of the scenes I didn’t like, despite the cool sound mixing work in it, was the big shootout sequence with Demi Moore’s character and the convict hunting her down. They could have ended the shootout after the first 30 seconds, but instead they ramp it up into this big, ridiculous action sequence like something from a John Woo film. It’s a huge misstep of a sequence for the film, and I heard a couple other people making fun of it after the film was over, so I wasn’t the only one. It could have easily been edited down to a workable scene. The other is a small thing, but it annoyed me none-the-less. I’m perfectly fine with movies taking liberties with the use of computers and information for ease of plotting. Films and TV have been doing it for SO long, and almost always in a manner so completely unrealistic, that I’ve grown rather used to it. But this movie contains such a scene (Brooks pulling up Detective Atwood’s records and history) and makes the mistake of having his character deliver a really poor piece of exposition about just how easy it was. I don’t recall the exact wording, but it made me cringe.

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