Mr. Brooks (2007)

William Hurt: Marshall

Photos 

Quotes 

• [last lines] 

  Marshall : [voice-over]  Why do you fight it so hard, Earl?

  Mr. Earl Brooks : [whispering to himself]  God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time and enjoying one moment at a time, accepting hardships as the pathway to peace. Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is and not as I would have it, trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His will, that I may be reasonably happy in this life, and supremely happy with Him forever in the next. Amen.

• Mr. Earl Brooks : [about Mr. Smith]  Maybe I should drive over there and pick him up.

  Marshall : No, just honk. Maybe he'll get killed crossing the street. Save us the mess of doing it.

  [Both start laughing. Then, Mr. Brooks honks the horn and Mr. Smith nearly gets hit by a car while crossing] 

  Mr. Earl Brooks : Almost.

• Marshall : [of Mr. Smith]  Even if that guy was charming and funny, I still wouldn't like him.

• Mr. Earl Brooks : How did you find me, Mr. Smith?

  Mr. Smith : You're "Man of the Year", Mr. Brooks.

  [Smith starts clapping] 

  Mr. Smith : Your picture's in the paper. And if it hadn't had been, I don't know. I don't know what I would've done.

  Mr. Earl Brooks : Lucky me. What is it that I can help you with?

  Mr. Smith : I've been watching that couple for months. Yeah, they like to make love with the blinds open. Sometimes I would take pictures; visual aids for later. It's a great way to get off, I'll tell you that. It was fun, I thought, until I saw you kill them. And I have never, ever, felt a... a... rush that like, ever. I know you're the Thumbprint Killer. You've done this before. What I want... is for you, to take me with you next time you kill someone. And I'd like that to be soon.

  [Marshall laughs out loud] 

  Marshall : [sarcastically]  And you were worried that this was going to be unpleasant? The answer is simple. Just tell Mr. Smith that you decided never to kill again, and he'll go away.

  Mr. Earl Brooks : You enjoy watching me suffer, don't you?

  Marshall : In a word, yes.

  Mr. Earl Brooks : Where do you think he has the other pictures?

  Marshall : He put them in a safety deposit box. But I'll bet the box is at the bank where he keeps his checking account. The key... is on his key chain! He really wants to do this. He's not going to the cops.

• Marshall : For all the taxes we pay, you'd think they'd make it more difficult to hack into the police personnel file.

• [upon seeing that he was photographed murdering two people] 

  Mr. Earl Brooks : You see that, Marshall? That's why I didn't want to do the dance couple.

  Marshall : Stop your fucking whining, Earl. You enjoyed doing that couple just as much as I did, and look at the bright side - he came to us. He didn't go to the cops. If he tries to shake us down, we kill him. Period. We make it fun, but we kill him! End of story.

• Marshall : Let the police put Jane in jail. Hopefully that will save her. And we can happily go on with our tortured lives.

• Marshall : She did it, didn't she?

  Mr. Earl Brooks : Yeah. It'll take the cops a week to ten days to put their case together, and then... and then they will come back and arrest her.

  Marshall : What are you going to do?

  [Earl breaks down and cries, while Marshall hugs him] 

  Mr. Earl Brooks : Oh, God. Oh, God. I was afraid of this since before she was born. She has... she has what I have.

  Marshall : Yes, she does. But you were always smart about it. She was stupid. She did it because she got off - okay, I understand. She's in it for fun - okay, I understand. But why didn't she think it through? A hatchet? And she left it there.

• Marshall : Don't kid yourself, Earl. You're going to kill again.

• [first lines] 

  Mr. Earl Brooks : [voice-over]  Oh God... God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change.

  Marshall : [voice-over]  Why do you fight it so hard, Earl?

• Mr. Earl Brooks : [talking about Jane]  Well, we were right. She was hiding something.

  Marshall : Pregnant's not all of it. She's hiding something, bigger. Something much bigger.

  Mr. Earl Brooks : You think so?

  Marshall : I know so... and so do you.

• Mr. Earl Brooks : Maybe I should pull over there and pick him up.

  Marshall : No, just honk. Maybe he'll get killed crossing the street and save us the mess of doing it.

  Mr. Earl Brooks , Marshall : [both laugh] 

  [Earl honks his horn, Smith crosses the street a nearly gets hit by a car] 

  Mr. Earl Brooks : [exclaims]  Almost.