# Mr. Brooks

Mr. Brooks is a 2007 film about a serial killer who must deal with a peeping tom who is blackmailing him, the detective trying to catch him, his troubled daughter, and his imaginary, bloodthirsty alter ego.
    Directed by Bruce A. Evans. Written by Bruce A. Evans and Raynold Gideon.

## Title card

* The hunger has returned to Mr. Brooks' brain. It never really left.

## Earl Brooks

* [after breaking into Mr. Smith's apartment] Don't worry. If I were here to kill you, you would already be dead. After you left today, I realized that our friendship was a little one-sided. So tomorrow night when we meet, if you'd be so kind as to bring all the pictures and the memory card from your camera. That way we could like each other simply for who we are. If you don't show up, I will presume that you've gone to the police, and I will kill you. Even if I go to jail because of you, Mr. Smith, someone will find you, wherever you are, and they will kill you.
* Finding someone you think would be fun to kill is a bit like... well, it's a bit like falling in love. You meet a lot of candidates, and you like some of them, and they're nice. But they're not right. And that special one comes along, and your heart beats faster, and you know that's the one.
* I don't enjoy killing, Mr. Smith. I do it because I'm addicted to it.
* You always want to invest in things people can't do without. Water and cemeteries... pretty safe bets.
* [after the killing blow to Mr. Smith] Before I was the Thumbprint Killer, Mr. Smith, I killed a lot of people in a lot of different ways.

## Marshall

* Why do you fight it so hard, Earl?
* [scoffing at Earl's AA meetings] You are such a fucking hypocrite. If you were being honest, you would say, "Hi, my name is Earl, and I killed two people last night."
* For all the taxes we pay, you'd think they'd make it more difficult to hack into the police personnel file.
* [of Mr. Smith] Even if that guy was charming and funny, I still wouldn't like him.
* Let the police put Jane in jail. Hopefully that will save her. And we can happily go on with our tortured lives.
* Don't kid yourself, Earl. You're going to kill again.

## Detective Tracy Atwood

* [to her ex-husband] Jesse, you know what would make me feel really safe right now? If you got hit by a truck and died!

## Dialogue

    [Earl has just murdered two people; Marshall points out to him that the window was open the entire time]
    Marshall: What the fuck is this?! Fucking pigs liked to do it with the curtains open. You should have known that. This is a big mistake for you, Earl!
    Earl Brooks: Almost as if I wanted to get caught, eh, Marshall?
    Marshall: Well, don't fucking do that! I don't think either of us would enjoy spending the rest of our lives on death row, or a lethal injection!
    Earl Brooks: [closing the curtains] Yes, sir.
    [Earl finds out that he has been photographed murdering two people]
    Earl Brooks: You see that, Marshall? That's why I didn't want to do the dance couple.
    Marshall: Stop your fucking whining, Earl. You enjoyed doing that couple just as much as I did, and look at the bright side - he came to us. He didn't go to the cops. If he tries to shake us down, we kill him. Period. We make it fun, but we kill him! End of story.
    Earl Brooks: How did you find me, Mr. Smith?
    Mr. Smith: You're "Man of the Year", Mr. Brooks. [claps] Your picture's in the paper. And if it hadn't had been, I don't know. I don't know what I would've done.
    Earl Brooks: Lucky me. What is it that I can help you with?
    Mr. Smith: I've been watching that couple for months. Yeah, they like to make love with the blinds open. Sometimes I would take pictures; visual aids for later. It's a great way to get off, I'll tell you that. It was fun, I thought, until I saw you kill them. And I have never, ever, felt a... a... rush that like, ever! [lowers voice] I know you're the Thumbprint Killer. You've done this before. What I want... is for you to take me with you next time you kill someone. And I'd like that to be soon.
    Marshall: [sarcastically] And you were worried that this was going to be unpleasant? The answer is simple. Just tell Mr. Smith that you decided never to kill again, and he'll go away.
    Earl Brooks: You enjoy watching me suffer, don't you?
    Marshall: In a word, yes.
    Earl Brooks: Where do you think he has the other pictures?
    Marshall: He put them in a safety deposit box. But I'll bet the box is at the bank where he keeps his checking account. The key... is on his key chain! He really wants to do this. He's not going to the cops.
    Earl Brooks: [about Mr. Smith] Maybe I should drive over there and pick him up.
    Marshall: No, just honk. Maybe he'll get killed crossing the street. Save us the mess of doing it.
    [Both start laughing. Then, Mr. Brooks honks the horn and Mr. Smith nearly gets hit by a car while crossing]
    Earl Brooks: Almost.
    Earl Brooks: [talking about Jane] Well, we were right. She was hiding something.
    Marshall: Pregnant's not all of it. She's hiding something, bigger. Something much bigger.
    Earl Brooks: You think so?
    Marshall: I know so... and so do you.
    Marshall: She did it, didn't she?
    Earl Brooks: Yeah. It'll take the cops a week to ten days to put their case together, and then... and then they will come back and arrest her.
    Marshall: What are you going to do?
    [Earl breaks down and cries, while Marshall hugs him]
    Earl Brooks: Oh, God. Oh, God. I was afraid of this since before she was born. She has... she has what I have.
    Marshall: Yes, she does. But you were always smart about it. She was stupid. She did it because she got off - okay, I understand. She's in it for fun - okay, I understand. But why didn't she think it through? A hatchet? And she left it there.
    [Atwood's phone rings]
    Tracy Atwood: Atwood.
    Earl Brooks: Why are you a cop?
    Tracy Atwood: Who is this?
    Earl Brooks: You're rich, you have a good education. You could have gone into your father's business. Instead, you became successful on your own. Why?
    Tracy Atwood: If you don't tell me who you are, I'm going to hang up.
    Earl Brooks: You didn't really think your husband's killing was random, did you? And I certainly didn't have to give you Meeks.
    Tracy Atwood: Mr. Baffert? You don't sound like you.
    Earl Brooks: Well, I have a little cold.
    Tracy Atwood: Where are you?
    Earl Brooks: I'll tell you if you give me an answer to my question.
    [Atwood pauses for a moment and exchanges a glance with her partner]
    Tracy Atwood: My father was very disappointed that I was born a girl... and he let me know it. I've spent my whole life trying to prove him wrong.
    Earl Brooks: [smiles] Thank you.
    Tracy Atwood: Wait a minute. You promised to tell me where you are.
    Earl Brooks: Me? I'm on top of a building.
    [Earl hangs up and drops the cellphone onto the street below]

## Taglines

* Sometimes, the man who has everything... has everything to hide.
* A crime is only as perfect as the mind behind it.

## Cast

* Kevin Costner - Earl Brooks
* Demi Moore - Detective Tracy Atwood
* Dane Cook - Mr. Smith / Graves Baffert
* William Hurt - Marshall
* Marg Helgenberger - Emma Brooks
* Ruben Santiago-Hudson - Detective Hawkins
* Danielle Panabaker - Jane Brooks
* Aisha Hinds - Nancy Hart
* Lindsay Crouse - Captain Lister

## External links

* Mr. Brooks quotes at the Internet Movie Database
* Mr. Brooks at Mojo
* Mr. Brooks at Rotten Tomatoes
* Mr. Brooks at Allmovie