Once again, the great Sean Burns, on the not-so-great "Mr. Brooks":
"Earl’s latest slip-up just so happens to be caught on camera by a jittery pervert amateur photographer, played here in a stroke of casting genius by jittery pervert amateur comedian Dane Cook. Instead of heading straight to the cops with the evidence, Cook’s overenergetic shutterbug goes the blackmail route, demanding a voyeuristic ride-along during Costner’s next ritual execution.Posted by Stephen Silver at June 7, 2007 04:30 PM
I dare you to find a single line delivered by Cook that isn’t riddled with some sort of manic hambone affectation, just like his alleged comedy routines. In fact, the best gag comes from Mr. Brooks pitting Cook’s frenetic, exhausting mugging against Costner’s laid-back socio-pathy and Hurt’s wry malignancy.If anything, this movie seems designed to prove the strange, unseemly notion that even bloodthirsty serial killers are more enjoyable company than bad MySpace comedians."