Four Brothers Review

"Four Brothers" reviews

Movie

Four Brothers

Author

anonymous

Date reviewed

2006-02-14 20:45:36

Rating

2.5/5

Provider

CinemaSource

Review

Just what we need to end the summer with a bang--a good old-fashioned vigilante revenge movie from director John Singleton. One in which the sub-par plot thankfully comes second to the shoot-'em-up, car-chasing, good-guy-vs.-very-bad-guy action.

Story

The Mercer brothers--hotheaded Bobby (Mark Wahlberg), family man Jeremiah (Andre Benjamin), pretty boy Angel (Tyrese Gibson), and troubled Jack (Garrett Hedlund)--owe their lives to their adoptive mother, Evelyn (Fionnula Flanagan). Even though they've all gone their separate--and not necessarily straight and narrow--paths, none of them would have made it to adulthood if their beloved mother hadn't been there to guide them. So when she's killed in a seemingly random grocery store holdup, the grieving four brothers reunite to find out just exactly what went down. Of course, the rest of the plot--something to do with a business deal gone awry, crooked cops and one mean mother of a street kingpin--is really superfluous. It's really just about the Mercer brothers kicking some serious ass and taking no prisoners.

Acting

The cast holds up. Wahlberg--whose carving a nice little career for himself by starring in action-packed ensemble pieces (The Italian Job, Three Kings)--takes immediate charge as the eldest brother, who punches first and asks questions later. Gibson (2 Fast 2 Furious), a Singleton staple, plays his usual smooth operator who gets more than he deserves just because he looks so good. Hedlund (Friday Night Lights) also does a nice job as the youngest Mercer, a kid who was deeply scarred before Evelyn got a hold of him. The standout, however, is André Benjamin, aka André 3000 from the hip-hop group OutKast. The singer-turned-actor gives a layered performance as Jeremiah, a man who has tried to stay on the up and up for his family's sake but manages to get involved with the wrong people anyway. What makes Four Brothers rise slightly above the usual fare is the tangible camaraderie between the four actors. They each have individual moments remembering their mother, but together they easily convey years of growing up in this loving household, razzing each other only like brothers can. So when the crap really hits the fan, you're hooked, truly caring who lives and who dies.

Direction

Four Brothers is definitely a welcome throwback--and director John Singleton looks like he relishes every nostalgic moment. It's loosely based on John Wayne's The Sons of Katie Elder, but Singleton also adds in elements from those '70s payback flicks he loves so well, á la Death Wish and Shaft (which Singleton remade with Samuel L. Jackson). These movies have nothing to do with an engaging plot; it's just about exacting revenge. Plain and simple. Of course, you know deep down it's wrong to root for these so-called vigilantes, whose morals are tenuous, who should let the cops do their jobs. But who are we kidding? We just want to see them annihilate all the evil wrongdoers without giving them any chance. Singleton understands this. Setting his movie in a frozen Detroit, he focuses his attention on what's important. From a thrilling car chase over icy, snow-packed streets to a rather lengthy and bloody but seat-gripping shootout, Four Brothers doesn't let up. And even though you may walk out with a headache, you're glad to know at least why.

Bottom Line

If it's hardcore, blood-spattered vengeance you want, Four Brothers the summer movie for you.

Movie

FOUR BROTHERS

Author

anonymous

Date reviewed

2005-10-25 21:09:37

Provider

Review

John Singleton's revenge thriller stars Mark Wahlberg as one of the eponymous siblings intent on tracking down those responsible for the murder of their adopted mother. Set in a Detroit that has more in common with the wild west than the frozen north, Singleton (still best known for the groundbreaking Boyz N The Hood) tells a story that owes much to the uncomplicated morality of Hong Kong cinema.

Wahlberg's brothers are OutKast's Andre Benjamin (a better rapper, but inferior actor to the one-time Marky Mark), who plays the quartet's lone family man, Tyrese Gibson as the ladykiller Angel and Garrett Hedlund as wannabe rock star Jack. Wahlberg himself plays Bobby, hardheaded and just out of jail and the first to realise their mother's killing "wasn't no gang shooting, it was an execution!" The deeper they delve, the clearer it becomes that the man responsible is crime lord Victor Sweet (Chiwetel Ejiofor proving Britain can supply black as well as white villains).

Surprisingly though, Singleton, whose early films were mostly character driven, fails to develop the relationship between the brothers. Instead, he relishes the non-stop violence dished out against the gangsters and useless and corrupt police officers, without ever really commanding the sympathy of the viewers. What we get is a routine action thriller whose every thread leads, inevitably, into another outburst of hi-tech gunplay. If your appetite for watching bad guys getting offed is insatiable, then you'll find Four Brothers a passable entertainment. If you hope for something more than bangs, crashes and villains going up in flames, then Four Brothers is one family reunion best avoided.