The biggest story surrounding the midsummer release of the odd and messy but ultimately satisfying thriller Mr. Brooks centered around Kevin Costner's resurgence and willingness to play a killer (though personally I'm more impressed he's managed to resist playing another baseball player now for two years and counting). But Earl Brooks, the wealthy business owner and Portland "Man of the Year" honoree who dabbles in homicide on the side, isn't cut from the same cold-blooded vein as Patrick Bateman or Mickey or Mallory. He's constantly at odds with himself, and is largely let off the hook by the presence of his bloodthirsty alter-ego/invisible friend Marshall, who takes the shape of an aging William Hurt. The poor guy's got a devil on one shoulder but no angel on the other. To that effect, Mr. Brooks feels far less festive than American Psycho or Natural Born Killers, and is in some ways more surprising, even if Costner didn't do the film's suspense any favors when he spoke pre-release about making multiple Brooks movies (perhaps Mr. and Mrs. Brooks is next?). The film has plenty of other "lovable mess" qualities to it. It's overplotted: whereas Dane Cook's wannabe-slayer Mr. Smith is a necessity, a separate storyline involving an escaped convict is pure overkill. It's campy: Brooks has a secret lair, for one. And something about Demi Moore playing a multimillionaire who daylights as a cop screams bad Verhoeven. The film also inexplicably morphs into a John Woo movie for one bizarre action sequence. That all said, there's not a single dull moment to it.

Bonus Points: There's endless joy time for the serial killer enthusiast here: This disc comes with deleted scenes, commentary from director Bruce A. Evans his co-writer Raynold Gideon, and featurettes called The Birth of a Serial Killer: A Look at the Writing of Mr. Brooks, On the Set of Mr. Brooks, and Murder On Their Minds: Mr. Brooks, Marshall & Mr. Smith.

Other New DVD Releases This Week (Oct. 23)
Meet the Robinsons
Hostel: Part II
Fido
Home of the Brave
Into Great Silence
Nearing Grace
Saw III: Director's Cut
A Clockwork Orange: Special Edition
O Lucky Man: Special Edition
Hostel: Director's Cut
Wild Style: Anniversary Edition

OK, so it's a pretty slow news day, but I think one of the cool things we movie bloggers do is shine a light on titles that might have been underrated, overlooked and plain old dismissed. Bruce Evans' Mr. Brooks didn't blow many doors down at the multiplexes ($33 million worldwide gross) -- nor did it wow the critics all that much (56% positive at Rotten Tomatoes) -- but I dug it. Maybe it's just the novelty of seeing Kevin Costner, Dane Cook and William Hurt in the same movie ... or maybe it was the collective presence of Demi Moore, Reiko Aylesworth, Danielle Panabaker and (rowr!) Marg Helgenberger that kept me enraptured.

All I know is that (aside from one really nagging complaint) I really liked the movie. In it, Costner plays a seemingly normal upper-class family man -- but inside his brain lives a psychotic who looks a lot like William Hurt. And together they do very terrible things. You'll rent it, you'll like it. Thank me later. Demi Moore plays a millionaire police detective. You'll have a ball.

According to DVDActive.com, Mr. Brooks will hit DVD on October 23 courtesy of MGM Home Video, and the disc will come packing a few solid goodies: Evans and longtime collaborator Raynold Gideon will provide an audio commentary (together the duo penned the beautiful Starman, the lovable Stand By Me ... and ... Cutthroat Island), several deleted scenes (with optional commentary), three featurettes and the theatrical trailer. (And hopefully an alternate ending that doesn't ... never mind. Forget I said anything.) Lastly, what's up with that lame-ass DVD cover? I thought the theatrical poster was pretty damn cool.

Have you seen anything on Kevin Costner's new movie, Mr. Brooks? It's due in theaters June 1 and I think it looks rather intriguing. Costner is some successful business guy with a nice home, wife and family (that'd be Mr. Brooks, I'm guessing) who ... dum-dum-dum! ... is a serial killer at night (I think). Demi Moore plays a detective on his trail, and William Hurt is ... some other serial killer who discovers Costner's nocturnal activities (I think). We have two exclusive pics from the thriller (see below). I can't remember Kevin Costner playing such a baddie before -- has he? And I read that he's already considering a sequel for this flick, wanting to "tell the story" of this character. I'm not a huuuge KC fan, but I have to admit that I loved The Upside of Anger, and that was partly because it was such a surprising choice for him (along with the fact that Joan Allen is sublime), so I'm hoping that this one too will exceed my Kev-spectations. And it's ALWAYS a blast to see William Hurt chewing some scenery (a little 'History of Violence,' anyone?).

Kevin Costner's latest, the rather intriguing serial killer thriller Mr. Brooks, doesn't hit screens until June 1, but that hasn't stopped the star from broaching the topic of sequels -- which is kind of strange when you consider that Costner's never done a sequel! It was in an interview with Entertainment Weekly that the actor talked sequels: "''This was written with the idea that we would do a couple others ...When the writers first presented the notion to me, I said, 'Oh, bulls---! I haven't done Tin Cup 2, or Bull Durham 2, or Open Range: The Early Years, so you don't have to try to hook me with that.'

But when they told me their idea, the hair on the back of my neck stood up. We're hoping this little movie develops a following so we can play this story out the way it should.'' Co-starring Demi Moore, Dane Cook and William Hurt (in a role that looks pretty darn juicy), Mr. Brooks hails from the long-standing writing duo of Raynold Gideon and Bruce A. Evans, the guys who've penned movies very good (Starman, Stand By Me) and not-so-good (Cutthroat Island, Jungle 2 Jungle). Check out the trailer if you like.

Comedian Dane Cook is never, ever going away. In addition to appearing in pretty much every stupid-funny movie made over the past 12 months or so, he's also making some hay in the story business, having just sold his second pitch. Disney bought this one (wittily entitled Dad Knap), because they think the idea of a guy kidnapping his dad to improve their relationship is totally hilarious. Actually, that is sort of funny, assuming the people at Disney can keep themselves from throwing contract flunky Tim Allen in there to muck it up. Though Cook will produce, the studio is going to have to find their own writer, because Cook is just too busy to sit down and actually, you know, write something. Instead, he's got to be acting all over town, including in his most recent addition, the Kevin Costner-William Hurt evil twin flick, Mr. Brooks.

Come to think of it, this dadknapping story actually sounds like it could be the "relationship comedy" that Cook sold to The Weinstein Company a few months ago. Perhaps he's just scurrying around, throwing the same vague-but-hilarious pitch at studio heads all over town, and chortling with glee as they throw money at him. And if he's not, he should be.

Friday's odds and ends:

• The Weinstein Company has picked up the American distribution rights to Emilio Estevez's sprawling RFK assassination drama, Bobby. Starring the pretty much all of Hollywood, the movie is due out this fall and, according to the most recent reports, is actually ahead of schedule.

• Well, that was quick. Mr. Brooks' good and evil pair of Kevin Costner and William Hurt now have their lady: according to this morning's Hollywood Reporter, Demi Moore has joined the film's cast. Refreshingly, Moore isn't playing a love interest who is threatened and made to scream (in a bad way) a lot by the bad guy. Instead, she'll be a "a tough detective whose devotion to her craft catches the attention and respect of the serial killer she is hunting." Ah, hell. The summary alone is creeping me out, so there's no way I have the nerves to see this movie. Dammit.

• When we reported late last year about the rumors that Radiohead was going to do the score for A Scanner Darkly, people came out of the woodwork to tell us it was all a huge, idiotic lie. But now the "rumor" is back again, and this time it's from the proverbial Mainstream Media: EW's Popwatch is reporting the story as a studio-confirmed fact - odd, since the version Jette saw the other day featured music by Graham Reynolds. So, basically, no one knows what's going on, not even the people at Warner independent Pictures. [Edit: Popwatch has has been updated based on new information from WIP. Radiohead isn't doing the score; instead, the movie will feature unspecified Radiohead songs, in addition to a Thom Yorke solo track.]
  

Here's a fairly cool idea: William Hurt as the evil Kevin Costner. Not that they look alike or anything - actually, maybe I just like the idea of Hurt being evil. Apparently I'm not the only one who likes it, because that seems to be the plot of Mr. Brooks, a psychological thriller that MGM is planning to start shooting next month. Costner's character (he's Brooks) is described as "a tortured man who tries to be disciplined and remain in control," while Hurt, though it doesn't sound like he's, you know, sitting on Costner's shoulder with horns and a tails, nevertheless somehow represents his dark side - the one that likes "murder and mayhem." Whoa. Costner's always been a solid actor when he doesn't try to do idiotic things, and there's a creepy menace to Hurt no matter what he's doing that could be used to great effect here - call me crazy, but this sounds promising.

The movie was written and will be directed by Bruce Evans, the crowning achievement of whose writing career is still Stand By Me. Which is great and all, but since it was made 20 years ago, pointing at it as the most current reason to respect his work means we're overlooking a lot of crap. Like the hideous Kuffs, for example, which was his only other attempt to both write and direct. Yeah. You see now why it's best to go all the way back to Stand By Me.