Kevin Costner portrays white-collar serial killer Earl Brooks who has come out of dormancy and is killing once again. While he is being tracked by Detective Tracey Atwood (Demi Moore), Brooks is caught in the act by amateur photographer Mr. Smith (Dane Cook) who then blackmails the elusive serial killer into showing him how to murder people. On top of all of this, Brooks battles his own murderous nature. Throughout the film he carries on conversations with Marshall, the demon that curses him and urges him to kill (William Hurt). Seem like a lot? You're right, it is. Far too much to be crammed into what should be a simple narrative. If writers Bruce A. Evans and Raynold Gideon (Stand by Me) would have focused the story down and removed one or two subplots, they may have had an engaging and smart film. As it stands, there's some compelling things going on, the conversation between Brook and Marshall are curious enough and Brooks himself is an interesting character, but its all too much and the whole piece bleeds together (pun not intended but allowed after the fact).

This is a good film for screenwriters. You can watch this and figure out where it went wrong and how it could get fixed. The general public is probably better off just ignoring this one, like they already have.


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