August 12, 2005 | Brimming with rude humor and bad attitude, Four Brothers is a sensationally ’70s-style action flick, a down-and-dirty, rock-the-house revenge drama with the blunt-force impact of those mongrelly B-movies that were staples of inner-city moviehouses in the Polyester Era. Call it a blast from the past, and you won’t be far off the mark.
The tasty soundtrack of wall-to-wall Motown golden oldies is only the most obvious signal that director John Singleton (Boyz N the Hood) has blaxploitation homage on his mind. But the unabashedly derivative script by David Elliot and Paul Lovett also incorporates elements of classic Westerns – John Wayne’s The Sons of Katie Elder in particular – while following four vengeful siblings through a contemporary Detroit that seems as untamed and wide open as Dodge City circa 1884.
Singleton sets the tone early on when he uses Marvin Gaye’s soulfully swaggering “Trouble Man” to introduce grim-faced ex-con Bobby Mercer (Mark Wahlberg). Bobby returns to wintry Detroit to attend the funeral of his beloved adoptive mother, recently gunned down during a corner-store hold-up, and to reunite with his three street-smart brothers: hunky ex-Marine Angel (Tyrese Gibson), punkish hard-rocker Jack (Garrett Hedlund) and former union activist Jeremiah (Andre Benjamin).
Except for one or two genuinely funny gags, Singleton wisely refrains from making a big deal of the fact that two brothers are African-American (Angel, Jeremiah) and two are Caucasian (Bobby, Jack). Instead, the movie gets more dramatic and emotional mileage from their common background as throwaway delinquents who were rescued from the foster-care system by the late, lamented Evelyn Mercer (Fionnula Flanagan, a powerful presence in flashbacks). Evelyn did her best to raise them right. But, of course, they’re still bad boys at heart.
So bad, in fact, that the Mercer brothers rightly figure they’re better equipped than the cops to track down their mother’s killers. After all, they’re unbound by rules restricting interrogation and excessive force. (Unlike the good guys on Law & Order, they can use gasoline and lit matches to loosen tongues.) Sure enough, it takes them very little time to deduce their mom’s murder wasn’t random. It requires just a few minutes more to link the gunmen to Victor Sweet (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a sadistic mobster with dirty cops on his payroll and a personal interest in Jeremiah’s business plans.
If you can overlook some serious strains on credibility here and there – well, OK, just about everywhere — you can have a wild and wooly time with Four Brothers. And if you simply must insist on some semblance of realism, note that the Mercer boys never come off as slick superheroes: They drive clunky cars, wear off-the-rack attire, and flash back-to-basics weaponry.
Much of the movie’s appeal stems from the terrifically engaging and profanely funny interplay among the four well-cast leads. (Wahlberg is particularly impressive as an insolent hothead who’s much smarter and more sensitive than he wants to appear.) The strong supporting cast — including Terrence Howard (Hustle & Flow) as an honest cop caught in the crossfire – enhances the overall package.
Clocking in at a tight 108 minutes, Four Brothers feels neither dawdling nor unduly rushed. Singleton is unafraid to slow the tempo for scenes like a gruffly sentimental Thanksgiving dinner shared by the Mercer brothers (and brightened with a bold touch of magical realism). But when he kicks out the jams during hard-core rough stuff – especially during a slipping-and-sliding car chase through a snowstorm, and a full-out assault on the Mercer home – he delivers the goods with thrillingly kinetic flair. Editors Bruce Cannon and Billy Fox do standout work, but nothing ever gets too hyped, too abstract, too videogamey. Much like the recent Assault on Precinct 13 remake, Four Brothers makes a virtue of blunt, brawny ’70s-style simplicity when it comes to kicking butt and settling scores.
