百年50部英文燒腦電影賞析:[25]Mr. Brooks 布魯克斯先生

Earl Brooks(Kevin Costner)is a wealthy, successful businessman recently honored by the Portland, Oregon Chamber of Commerce as “Man of the Year”, In his secret life, Brooks is a serial killer, known as the “Thumbprint Killer”. Brooks has abstained from murder for the past two years by attending meetings for addicts to cope with his killing addiction. He feels the compulsion to kill rising again, however, as his id, Marshall(William Hurt)becomes more insistent. Brooks kills a couple while they are having sex in their apartment and, as part of his pathology, leaves each of the victims' bloody thumbprints on a lampshade. Brooks follows his meticulous modus operandi, including fastidious preparation and cleaning up the crime scene before departing. Marshall then notices that the couple's curtains were open.

Brooks' daughter Jane Brooks(Danielle Panabaker)unexpectedly arrives home, having dropped out of college in Palo Alto, California. She visits Brooks at work and mentions that she would like to get a job with his company. The same day, “Mr. Smith”(Dane Cook)turns up at Brooks' work and blackmails him with photographs of Brooks(taken because of the open curtains)at the most recent murder. He demands that Brooks take him along on a murder; reluctantly, Brooks agrees. Mrs. Brooks(Emma Brooks, played by Marg Helgenberger)reveals that Jane dropped out of college because she is pregnant. The Brookses are then visited by detectives from Palo Alto who want to interview Jane about a hatchet murder committed in her former dorm building. Marshall and Brooks realize that Jane committed the murder and consider letting her go to jail to “save her” from becoming like them. Eventually, however, Brooks uses an alternate identity, flies to Palo Alto, and commits a similar murder to make it appear as if a serial killer is loose, thereby exonerating Jane.

Brooks decides that he no longer wants to kill, but knows that he cannot stop himself. Not wanting to be caught and shame his family, Brooks concocts a plan where he will write a note to his family claiming to be terminally ill, and leave, never to return, Brooks researches the background of the police officer chasing the Thumbprint Killer, Detective Tracy Atwood(Demi Moore), and discovers she's in the middle of a messy divorce from Jesse Vialo(Jason Lewis). Brooks decides that Vialo and his lawyer(Reiko Aylesworth)will be Smith's first “victims” At the scene of the Vialo murder, Smith urinates in a fit of panic, leaving his DNA for the police to discover later, While driving away from the scene, Smith pulls a gun on Brooks, which Brooks and Marshall had predicted would happen. Brooks explains his plan to Smith, who agrees to kill Brooks. Brooks takes Smith to a cemetery he owns, and explains that they will find an open grave; Smith will shoot Brooks and then cover him with just enough dirt to mask the body. The next day, a casket will be lowered into the grave and covered, and Brooks' body will never be discovered.

Smith attempts to shoot Brooks, but Brooks reveals that, at some point prior, he had broken into Smith's apartment and bent the firing pin on Smith's pistol, rendering it inoperable on the off-chance that Brooks would change his mind. Brooks' brush with death makes him realize he wants to see his grandchild, and he turns on his would-be murderer, slitting Smith's throat with a shovel. As Smith lies dying, Brooks reveals that he used many different MO's before becoming the Thumbprint Killer. With Smith's urine providing the only DNA evidence of the Thumbprint Killer at a murder scene, Brooks will remain undetected.

Mr. Smith is named as the Thumbprint Killer and Brooks returns to his normal life. Knowing he is in the clear, Brooks calls Detective Atwood, whom he has come to admire, to ask her why she is a police officer. She replies that her wealthy father had wanted a boy, and she wanted to succeed in spite of him. Atwood is unable to trace the call before Brooks hangs up, but she realizes that the Thumbprint Killer is still at large. That night Brooks has a nightmare in which Jane kills him, suggesting that he fears Jane will become like him.

厄爾·布魯克斯(凱文·科斯特納飾)是一個富裕成功的商人，最近剛榮獲波特蘭俄勒岡州商會的“年度人物”。在他的秘密生活里，布魯克斯是個連環(huán)殺手，稱為“拇指紋殺手”。過去兩年中布魯克斯已不再殺人，因為他參加了應對殺人成癮的會議。然而，他最近感到殺人的沖動再次上升，因為他的馬歇爾(威廉·赫特飾)身份變得更加顯著。布魯克斯殺了一對在他們的公寓里做愛的夫婦。由于他的病態(tài)，他把每個受害者帶血的拇指紋印在了燈罩上。接下來布魯克斯用他極其細致的手法，在離開之前，做了極其講究的準備工作并清理了犯罪現(xiàn)場。隨后，馬歇爾才看到房間的窗簾是拉開的。

布魯克斯的女兒簡·布魯克斯(丹尼爾·帕娜貝克飾)意外地從加州的帕洛阿爾托大學綴學回家。她去看望正在工作的布魯克斯，提起她想去他的公司謀份差事。就在同一天，史密斯先生(戴恩·庫克飾)出現(xiàn)在布魯克斯的辦公地點，用布魯克斯最近謀殺的照片敲詐他(因為窗簾是拉開的所以拍攝到的)。他要求布魯克斯謀殺時帶上他。布魯克斯不情愿地答應了。布魯克斯夫人(艾瑪·布魯克斯，瑪格·海根柏格飾)透露簡輟學是因為懷孕了。之后來自帕洛阿爾托的偵探來訪問布魯克斯，他們想調(diào)查發(fā)生在簡以前宿舍樓的斧頭謀殺案。馬歇爾和布魯克斯意識到，簡犯有謀殺罪，考慮讓她進監(jiān)獄，挽救她，以免她變成他們那樣。但最后，布魯克斯使用備用身份，飛到帕洛阿爾托，制造了一起類似的謀殺，使它看上去像是系列謀殺案，從而使簡免于處罰。

布魯克斯決定不再殺人，但知道他無法阻止自己。他不想被逮住，讓他的家人蒙羞。布魯克斯編造了一個計劃，他將給他的家人寫個條子，聲稱自己病入膏肓，然后離開，永遠不再回來。布魯克斯開始研究追查拇指紋殺手的警探特蕾西·阿特伍德(黛米·摩爾飾)的背景，發(fā)現(xiàn)她正處于和杰西·費埃羅(杰森·劉易斯飾)離婚的混亂之中。布魯克斯決定讓費埃羅和他的律師(蕾可·艾爾絲沃斯飾)成為史密斯的第一批“受害者”。在費埃羅的謀殺現(xiàn)場，史密斯恐慌中尿了褲子，使警方發(fā)現(xiàn)了他的DNA。駕車離開現(xiàn)場時，史密斯拿槍指著布魯克斯。布魯克斯和馬歇爾已經(jīng)有所預料。布魯克斯向史密斯解釋了他的計劃，史密斯同意殺了布魯克斯。布魯克斯把史密斯帶到了他的墓地，并說明他們會找到一個打開的墓穴。史密斯向布魯克斯開槍，然后用足夠的泥土掩蓋他的身體。第二天，靈柩將會降入墳墓并被覆蓋，布魯克斯的尸體永遠不會被發(fā)現(xiàn)。

史密斯試圖向布魯克斯開槍，但布魯克斯透露，在之前的某個時候，他闖進了史密斯的公寓，弄彎了史密斯手槍的撞針，使槍不好用以防止他萬一改變主意。布魯克斯和死亡的擦肩而過讓他意識到，他想見他的孫子，他轉(zhuǎn)向想要謀殺他的史密斯，用鏟子切開了他的喉嚨。在史密斯垂死掙扎時，布魯克斯透露，在成為拇指紋殺手之前，他有過許多不同的身份。史密斯的尿液提供了拇指紋殺手謀殺現(xiàn)場的唯一的DNA證據(jù)，因此布魯克斯不會被發(fā)現(xiàn)。

史密斯先生被定為拇指紋殺手，布魯克斯回到他的正常生活。知道他現(xiàn)在是清白的，布魯克斯給她傾慕的偵探阿特伍德打電話，問她為什么當警察。她回答說，她富有的爸爸想要個男孩，她想成功，盡管她不是男孩。在布魯克斯掛掉電話之前，阿特伍德無法追蹤電話，她意識到拇指紋兇手仍然在逃。那天晚上，布魯克斯做了一個惡夢，簡殺了他，表明他害怕簡會變得像他那樣。