Kevin Costner’s Most Underrated Movie Can’t Be Seen Anywhere
Kevin Costner's mystery thriller Mr. Brooks unfortunately isn't available to stream.
Kevin Costner’s characters tend to be everyman types, but one of his most underrated films sees him going against type and playing a serial killer. The 2007 crime thriller Mr. Brooks is definitely one of the more interesting entries to Costner’s catalog, but there’s one problem — there isn’t anywhere to stream it. According to JustWatch.com, the film isn’t available on any streaming platforms, so you’ll have to buy the film if it’s something you want to check out for yourself.
Kevin Costner stars in Mr. Brooks as the titular Earl Brooks, who is a successful businessman in Portland, Oregon, who secretly moonlights as a serial killer. After being blackmailed, Brooks is forced to take on a protege. Along with this, Brooks must battle his own internal alter-ego, who encourages his killings, and the police officer, who reopens the investigation into his previous murders.
Along with Kevin Costner, Mr. Brooks stars Demi Moore, Dane Cook, William Hurt, Marg Helgenberger, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Danielle Panabaker, Aisha Hinds, Lindsay Crouse, Jason Lewis, Reiko Aylesworth, and Matt Schulze.
Bruce A. Evans directed and co-wrote the script with Raynold Gideon. The film was also shot on a relatively small budget of $20 million and ended up being pretty successful, grossing $48.1 million worldwide.
As for reviews, they were relatively mixed. Both Kevin Costner and William Hurt were praised for their performances as Mr. Brooks and his ID, respectively, but the movie can get a bit convoluted at the time. Regardless, the film is worth a watch just to see Costner play the type of role you don’t usually see him in. If only there was an easier way to see it.
Interestingly, director Bruce A. Evans has previously mentioned that there were plans for additional movies, but that never ended up panning out. The movies would continue to follow Kevin Costner as Mr. Brooks, along with his daughter Jane (Panabaker). In 2020, Evans even revealed what the sequels would have consisted of.
Evans talked about how the sequel would see the family of Kevin Costner’s Mr. Brooks kidnapped without having any idea that Brooks is a serial killer. This would end up being even worse for the kidnappers in the film, which would have further explored his daughter becoming a psychopath herself.
The film also would have seen Costner’s character kill off his alter-ego, played by William Hurt, who would end up being resurrected and come back “angrier and more perverse.”
The plans for the threequel have seen Kevin Costner’s Mr. Brooks at odds with his daughter, and the trilogy would have ended with him killing himself and his daughter to stop both of them from continuing to kill. It sounds like the franchise would have gotten pretty dark.
Since Evans revealed all the details, it does seem pretty unlikely these films would ever be put in development, but it’s cool to know where they would have taken the character.
Kevin Costner has long since moved on from Mr. Brooks and is now the lead of a major TV show with Yellowstone. However, Costner will not be returning after the fifth season of the massive season, as he will be pursuing different passion projects instead.
Costner played the role of ranch patriarch John Dutton across five seasons of the Taylor Sheridan-created show, and we will see his final performance as the character when the second half of the fifth season hits screens later this year.
While Kevin Costner won’t be jumping from his Yellowstone franchise to continue the Mr. Brooks story, he will be firing up a franchise of his own that will be an expansive multi-part film. Costner will be focusing on Horizon: An American Saga, which is an ambitious Western epic that he is directing, producing, co-writing, and starring in.
Not only is Costner wearing a lot of hats in the development of this film, but it is also set to be at least four films, all shot back-to-back.
Horizon: An American Saga will tell an epic tale of pre and post-American Civil War expansion and star Sienna Miller, Sam Worthington, Luke Wilson, and Thomas Haden Church alongside Kevin Costner. It remains to be seen if Costner leaving Yellowstone to take these films on will be worth it.
Until then, try and find Mr. Brooks somewhere on a DVD rack if you want to see one of Costner’s more underrated performances.
