I don't expect too much of Hollywood thrillers these days. They're too formulaic, too predictable, too tame, too Ashley Juddy and Morgan Freemany. Every time I watch one, it feels like I've already seen it. They have the same plots, the same twists, the same cops and bad guys. But I love the genre, so I keep going back.

I'd read a couple of good things about Mr. Brooks, but really didn't expect much from Mr. America 1988 aka Kevin Costner, the botoxed Demi Moore and pseudo-comedian turned hack-actor Dane Cook. Maybe it was my low expectations, but I thoroughly enjoyed this film. For a modern Hollywood thriller to keep me engaged, not ask me to switch my brain off every 3 minutes, and actually still make sense by the last twist; it's a minor miracle.

What worked best for me about this film was William Hurt playing Mr. Brooks evil-conscience. He sits in the back seat of the car, suggesting nasty things for them to do. Costner's Brooks wants to be a good upstanding man, and when we first meet him, he's receiving Man of the Year honors from the Portland Chamber of Commerce. He's a good husband and father, a successful business, and has been able to curb his murderous tendencies for the past few years. But apparently Hurt's Brooks has had his eye on a particular victim, the old urges win out, and the serial-murder known as the Finger Print Killer goes back to work. He's a little rusty though, and kills a young couple in front of a wide open window.

His sloppiness soon comes to haunt him in the form of Dane Cook's Mr. Smith, who blackmails Brooks with some photographs of the murder scene. But Smith doesn't want money, he wants a taste of murder and forces Brooks to take him out with him on his next kill. This is really the meat of the film, I love how Brooks takes Smith under his twisted wing and shows him how a professional serial killer works, all the while playing a sadistic cat and mouse game. Writer/Director Bruce Evans even manages to get a decent performance out of Cook. He has an important role, and if his Mr. Smith doesn't work, the film fails. There's also a decent subplot about Brooks' daughter possibly being a serial killer herself. The weakest link is Demi Moore's on-the-edge detective. (Is there any other kind?) She's not that bad, just cliche'd, and there's a fairly useless storyline about her bastard ex-husband, that slows down the film.

Overall the film really works; it's well made, nicely shot and edited, and competently directed and acted. Most importantly the screenplay works, it doesn't dumb things down, or have twists that come out of nowhere to ruin the film. William Hurt and Kevin Costner are great together as the two sides of Brooks' ego. Mr. Brooks is the rare, modern Hollywood thriller that doesn't make you feel stupider for watching. - Grade: B (Seen on 7/3/08)

(Seen on 5/20/08) I was fairly stoked to see this film. It had received good reviews and I like Steve Carrell as an actor. I was expecting to see to a smart, well made romantic dramedy. The film is almost there, it has a lot of the right ingredients, but ultimately, it never clicked for me. Too much of the film felt false, so I couldn't buy into this slightly ridiculous story.

Carrell is Dan Burns, an advice columnist, with three daughters and a dead wife. It's time for the Burns family reunion, so he throws his daughters in the car and heads out to the Rhode Island coast to his parents picture perfect home. On a trip into town, he meets-cute with a beautiful woman in a book store. When she asks him to help find her some books, he pretends to work there and helps her find some books. I appreciated that the rouse didn't blow up in his face, like so many films, but instead he plays it off, and the two have a wonderful talk, where he tells her all about his life. Marie is the first woman he's met, that's truly interested him since his wife died a few years before. Despite the obvious connection, she suddenly decides to take off. Before she drives away, Dan gets up the courage to ask her out and that's when she tells him she's already seeing someone.

This being a predictable romantic comedy, they meet up a short while later at Dan's parent's house, where he discovers his younger, irresponsible brother is dating her. This leads to many awkward moments between Dan, Marie and the rest of the family. There are a number of ridiculous movie-only moments; such as Dan and Marie ending up in the shower together, while Dan's oldest daughter is having a heart-to-heart with Marie. So much of film doesn't feel right, this is an only-in-the-movies kind of family; the whole weekend, they're constantly doing something like playing backyard football, practicing yoga together, or having a family talent show. This family is too picture perfect. Diane Wiest and John Mahoney, who've played parents in a combined 612 movies, once again show up as the all knowing, sweet as pie mom and dad, who always have exactly the right thing to say.

The movie is fairly entertaining, it is full of great actors who take these unreal situations and sell them to the best of their abilities. Carrell is his usual awkwardly-charming, hilarious self. Juliette Binoche doesn't have to stretch too much to be the perfect woman, she's beautiful and enchanting. Dane Cook, who plays younger brother Mitch, is the only one I really didn't like in the film; I've never bought him as an actor and proves again he doesn't have the chops. Writer/director Peter Hedges, has created a film that's utterly predictable, where the jokes are telegraphed from way off, with the whole thing playing a bit too on the nose. Dan in Real Life doesn't offer a single unique moment, but the caliber of the actors makes the film works as a cliche' riddled only in movie-land type fashion. - Grade: C+