Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with a review of John Singleton's FOUR BROTHERS. I missed the screening here in Austin on Monday... opting for the whoopin' and hollerin' of THE DUKES OF HAZZARD. Thankfully we had Vincent Hanna catch a screening and take the time to write about the movie for you folks! He didn't seem to like it too much... But you gotta see why! Beware of spoilers! Enjoy the review!
Vincent Hanna here with my take on Four Brothers, if you're interested. Thanks.
To lay my biases out on the table, I’ll start by saying that I’m not a huge fan of revenge flicks. Seeing our hero (or heroes) slaughter countless people (granted, they’re usually bad) all in the name of justice leaves a sour taste in my mouth. I’m more of a New Testament, eye-for-an-eye-leaves-everyone-blind kind of guy. These movies always sex up and glamorize violence, and typically they’re not my cup of tea.
That said, “Four Brothers” is a totally standard revenge pic that establishes itself as routine from the opening minutes, and never looks back. Its mediocrity has nothing to do with the incessant, glorified violence (though there is an abundance) and everything to do with being full of clichés.
Though the only thing that sets it apart from other movies of its ilk is the racial makeup of the heroes, “Four Brothers” makes no attempt to explore that angle. Other than a few random, throwaway jokes, it’s never even addressed. So the one thing that could have made it interesting and unique is completely tossed aside save for an obvious joke or two.
The foursome in question is comprised of Bobby (Mark Wahlberg), Angel (Tyrese), Jeremiah (Andre Benjamin) and Jack (Garrett Hedlund). Each is defined by a single character trait. Bobby is a troublemaker constantly at odds with the law. Angel is a ladies man. Jeremiah is a responsible family man. And Jack, the baby, is all about rock n’ roll.
Having gone their separate ways, the quartet is reunited in Detroit, their hometown. Unfortunately, it’s not a pleasant homecoming. Their adoptive mother Evelyn (Fionnula Flanagan) is gunned down in a convenience store robbery late one night. They have come home to seek revenge for her murder.
And right off the bat, you have one of the movie’s major problems. Evelyn is killed in the very first scene. Not to sound crude, but it is difficult to care. This is not someone we have come to know and admire. There is a perfunctory effort to establish her as a good person. 30 seconds before she is gunned down, she catches a young boy stealing some candy and lectures him about right and wrong, teaching him a valuable lesson.
This is hardly enough to properly develop a character the audience will want vengeance for. In “Man on Fire,” the first hour is devoted to the relationship between Creasy and Pita. We come to care about her, and it is easy to understand why he so desperately wants to find her, no matter what it takes. However, it’s completely different when it’s someone we have no feelings for whatsoever.
Basically, the remainder of “Four Brothers” consists of them taking matters into their own hands. They don’t trust the cops (Terrence Howard and Josh Charles) to accomplish anything, so they resort to street justice. Led by the volatile and borderline insane Bobby, they beat and kill whoever they need to in order to find out who killed their mother and why. It hardly makes them sympathetic since they prove themselves to be no better than the thugs that killed their mother. They don’t discriminate when it comes to beating ass in the name of vengeance.
Of course, it’s not just a simple case of a robbery gone bad. Evelyn’s murder involves corrupt cops, crooked politicians and powerful crime lords. But the four brothers will go wherever the trail leads them.
The movie’s best moments are the lightest ones, when the brothers are sitting around the house, making fun of each other (Wahlberg is fond of insulting everyone’s sexuality and especially enjoys accusing Jack of “sucking dick.”) The actors have a natural ease around each other and an agreeable camaraderie. Plenty of laughs are generated from their banter.
Sadly, those moments are few and far between. The rest is predictable and conventional in every way possible. Do you think the youngest brother dies? Do you think the white cop is corrupt? Ten or fifteen minutes into the movie and you can tell exactly where it’s going.
Along the way, we’re subjected to numerous shootouts, all of which involve bad guys who can’t hit the broad side of the barn (save for when it’s Jack’s time to die in a shameless attempt to jerk some tears) and way too many emotional scenes that fall oh so very flat (including the aforementioned Jack death scene). Watching these guys attempt to emote is painful, and the constant shifting between sentimental scenes and bloody gun battles is awkward and ineffective. They’re one-dimensional characters, and having them shed a tear over their dead brother after they’ve killed half of Detroit isn’t going to make us sympathize with them.
A main villain is thrown into the mix more than halfway into the movie, and it feels trite, like the writers figured they might as well, seeing as the story was going nowhere fast. He’s got the cops in his pocket and controls pretty much everything in the city. Do you think he’ll die in the end? Not that the filmmakers really care all that much. His death happens off-screen, highlighting what a routine and insignificant character he is.
Of the actors, Wahlberg gives the best performance. He has some of the same reckless abandon he brought to his “I Heart Huckabee’s” character, only Bobby isn’t nearly as hysterical as Tommy Corn. The rest fail to make much of an impression, including the normally excellent Howard, whose part is hardly more than a cameo.
In the end, it’s easy to see why “Four Brothers” is an August release. It is a by-the-numbers and lethargic effort that is indistinguishable from every movie of its type. It perfectly fits the definition of a rental, and even then, you wouldn’t really be missing anything if you walked right on by when you saw it sitting on the shelf at your local Blockbuster one rainy, cold night.
