MORTAL THOUGHTS

Glenne Headly, Demi Moore, Bruce Willis

MORTAL THOUGHTS (1991). Director: Alan Rudolph.

"All these years you haven't been married to me, you've been married to each other. -- Arthur Kellogg.

Cynthia Kellogg (Demi Moore) has been best friends with Joyce Urbanski (Glenne Headly) -- a couple of Bayonne, Jersey Girls -- for years, but their friendship is put to the test when Joyce's bullying pig of a husband (Bruce Willis) is found dead and both women are involved. Cynthia tells Detective Woods (Harvey Keitel of Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore) her side of the story, but things may be even more complicated than he imagines. Mortal Thoughts holds the attention, and it provides an interesting (some might say stereotypical) look at the lives of lower-class Italian-Americans -- whatever their intended ethnicity these people come off like Italians --  but something's just a little off with the picture, which at times borders on a black comedy (which actually might have made it a better movie). Headly and Moore give good, but somehow unmemorable, performances -- Headly has the edge on Moore -- and the film just doesn't have the strong dramatic impact it requires. It doesn't help that just about everyone in the film is unlikable. Willis [Surrogates] does okay as the slobbering Jimmy, and John Pankow offers some very nice work as Cynthia's husband, Arthur. There are some good character performances sprinkled throughout the movie as well. There's another murder by the end of the film, but many viewers won't be sure who the perpetrator is. This just becomes a little too contrived and unconvincing. Moore [Mr. Brooks] once made such high-profile movies as Ghost, Indecent Proposal, and For a Few Good Men, but her best years remain the 90s.

Verdict: Low impact pre-CSI thriller. **1/2.

MR. BROOKS

Kevin Costner

MR. BROOKS (2007). Director/co-writer: Bruce A. Evans.

Earl Brooks (Kevin Costner) is Portland's Man of the Year, a respected family man and very successful businessman -- but he is also the serial killer known as the Thumbprint Killer, who shoots couples and arranges their bodies in "romantic" poses. He has an invisible alter ego named Marshall (William Hurt), who encourages him to commit murder even as Earl tries to stay on the straight and narrow. For the first time he makes a mistake by murdering a couple in front of a window, and a man calling himself Smith (Dane Cook) has taken photographs of the crime. But Smith doesn't want money -- he wants to go along on Brooks' next kill! Another complication for Earl is that there just may be another serial killer in his family, and there's a dogged lady detective (Demi Moore) on his trail. While Mr. Brooks has a few interesting twists, it isn't for a moment believable and there's not enough suspense to keep you on the edge of your seat. The performances are quite good -- Costner and Hurt are excellent, while Moore gives a showy if not entirely convincing portrayal of the cop -- and Marg Helgenberger and Danielle Panabaker are fine as Earl's wife and daughter, respectively; Cook also does well as the slimy, repulsive Smith. Morally ambiguous, to say the least. Despite the subject matter, there's very little gore in the film except for a climactic killing.

Verdict: Enough with the serial killers already! **1/2.