Watching Mr. Brooks this weekend, I found myself with an odd feeling. About half way through the film, I realized I was rooting for Kevin Costner's character.

Why is that odd? Because it occurred to me that I was rooting for him to murder a blackmailer. Rooting for him to outsmart the cops. Rooting for him to kill more people in some clever and twisted way.

Now I realize this is just a movie, and I'm not making any stupid arguments about how it glorifies murder or violence. I just think it's interesting that in real life, we are all horrified by serial killers such as Jeffrey Dahmer, John Wayne Gacy or Ted Bundy, but when we go to the movies, we can so easily suspend our digust and actually pull for the murderer.

I guess it was Silence of the Lambs when we first started "rooting" for the serial killer. Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter was so equally charming and sadistic, you couldn't help but forget why he was in the dungeon in the first place. Weren't you impressed with his cunning escape and secretly happy for him -- forgiving the fact that he murdered two innocent jail guards, an ambulance crew, and two tourists in the process?

And didn't you just love the final scene where Hannibal stalks Dr. Chilton? Is this a serial killer about to murder an innocent civil servant? Heck no. This is our hero exacting revenge on the former jailer who enjoyed his "petty torments."

In the sequel Hannibal, he becomes the outright hero. The villains of the film are an Italian Police Detective (Giancarlo Giannini), a former victim (Gary Oldman), and a Justice Department official (Ray Liotta). Aren't they normally "the good guys?"

In Manhunter, the first movie version of the book Red Dragon, (and the first actual portrayal of Lecter) Hannibal was played by Brian Cox, who gave the serial killer a cool, almost nonchalant personality. But we never see Hannibal as a hero. Instead, he's the conniving inmate who tries to orchestrate a murder from behind bars. In the remake Red Dragon, however, Hopkins returns as Hannibal, and we are once again give the serial killer we are secretly rooting for.

Most recently, we saw Hannibal Rising -- the backstory of our serial hero -- who we find out became the monster he is because of the atrocities he witnessed and suffered in World War II. Now, not only are rooting for Hannibal to exact revenge, but it is subtly hinted that his behavior is justified. Hannibal isn't the only "serial killer as hero" by a long shot. Since Silence, there has been an onslaught(er) of such films including American Psycho, Frailty, and the SAW trilogy, just to name a scant few.

In literature, the roots of rooting for the serial killer go much deeper. The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith was published in 1955, and spawned four novel sequels (the "Ripliad") -- all featuring Tom Ripley, an American living in Europe who commits murder after murder for money, survival and sometimes just fun. Matt Damon played Ripley in the 1999 movie version, once again giving us permission to cheer for the killer, to hope he eludes capture, and to wish that maybe, just maybe, he'll kill again.

In Mr. Brooks, Kevin Costner gives us an American version of Ripley -- a serial killer tormented by his own sick desires who tries to quit but must kill again "one last time." But the twinkle in his eye and the glee in his voice as he dispatches his would-be-protege in the cemetery betray his claim to want to quit.

And secretly inside, I'm glad. I want him to win. And already, I'm thinking of the plot of Mr. Brooks Returns.

Ethan Morris: "Not always right, but never in doubt." Go ahead and write me.

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