John Singleton (SHAFT) is a master craftsman and one of today's finest directors, in my opinion. His films are on the level, stylish, and raw, spinning simple stories of passion and violence and featuring casts of characters who're easy to relate to and even easier to root for. The best directors carve their own place in Hollywood and become known as the artists who're reliable, in that they know what they're aiming for and use both classic and new tools to achieve the best possible release. Steven Spielberg is reliable when it comes to creating films which ooze wonder (E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL) or torment (SAVING PRIVATE RYAN), Martin Scorsese is reliable when it comes to creating elaborate films which follow larger-than-life characters (from mobsters, CASINO and GOODFELLAS, to legendary figures, THE AVIATOR and KUNDUN) as they develop over the decades, Werner Herzog (FITZCARRALDO) is reliable in showing us visual beauties few people have the audacity to even dream of capturing on celluloid, and John Singleton is reliable in delivering to us character-driven films with tight plots and a hard-edged style.

Singleton's newest film is FOUR BROTHERS, a revenge-themed thriller set in snow-covered Detroit which draws inspiration from Henry Hathaway's 1965 western THE SONS OF KATIE ELDER starring John Wayne and Dean Martin. Singleton's film relocates the story from the old west to an urban landscape and alters the story greatly. In this version, Evelyn Mercer (Fionnula Flanagan, THE OTHERS) is a community staple: She's found suitable and loving homes for hundreds of parent-free children and, years ago, she herself adopted four juvenile delinquents who were angered by their situation in life and were prone to outbursts of illegal behavior. Those four children were Bobby (Mark Wahlberg, THE ITALIAN JOB), Angel (Tyrese Gibson, FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX), Jeremiah (André Benjamin, BE COOL), and Jack (Garrett Hedlund, FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS). Now grown up, Bobby has become a rabble-rouser who goes through life with a smart mouth and an eager trigger finger, Angel has become a minor con artist who dreams of settling down with his lover Sofi (Sofí­a Vergara, LORDS OF DOGTOWN), Jeremiah has married Camille (Taraji P. Henson, HUSTLE & FLOW) and had children leaving behind the streets of Detroit to be a caring family man, and Jack has become a wandering lost soul who aspires to be a popular musician.

When Evelyn is murdered in what *seems to be* the result of a simple convenience store hold-up, the four brothers return home for the funeral and, once reunited, vow to hunt down the person or people reponsible for Evelyn's death and execute them mercilessly. But what started as a simple revenge plot grows more complicated and pits the brothers against two Detroit detectives, Lt. Green (Terrence Howard, CRASH) and his partner Fowler (Josh Charles, S.W.A.T.), who are afraid the brothers'll go vigilante and put the people of Detrot in danger. Their investigation also leads them to a massive conspiracy which involves Victor Sweet (Chiwetel Ejiofor, MELINDA AND MELINDA), a volatile gangster who has an entourage of followers, including a politician (Barry Shabaka Henley, COLLATERAL). The four brothers put their lives on the line to avenge the woman who devoted hers to them.

This movie is a great thriller which had me on the edge of my seat from beginning to end. It also offers a wonderfully strong chemistry between four very interesting performers and an appreciated dose of humor to provide some levity in the moments between the tragic and uber-violent elements. This perhaps isn't the most original film ever and comparisons can be drawn between this and last year's many revenge thrillers, including, but not limited to, MAN ON FIRE, PAPARAZZI, and THE PUNISHER, but Singleton overcomes a rather obvious plot by perfectly matching actor to character while casting and crafting exciting and stylish action sequences, notably a nighttime car chase which occurs during a severe blizzard and a later scene where gunmen assault the four brothers at home. From the moment I saw Singleton altered the Paramount logo by adding snow to it, I knew this would be another stylish film under his belt and the next two hours did not disappoint me.

We see so many films set in NYC and Los Angeles they've become fairly uninteresting settings, as many of their more interesting sights have used over and over again by Hollywood. Detroit, despite being used earlier this year in ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13, is a relatively fresh city to set a film in and FOUR BROTHERS exploits Detroit's industrial nature and chilling weather well. The method Singleton employs to shoot the city gives the film a sense of atmosphere. Singleton also knows how far to go and where to restrain himself in terms of violence, deciding to, at times, show the full effect of the violence to suprise the audience and then, at other times, allow the audience members to simply imagine the terrifying violence.

This film has an impressive cast of rising stars and one A-lister. The A-lister is Wahlberg, who has truly grown as an actor in recent years and overcome his underwear model notoriety to be considered a serious actor. In FOUR BROTHERS, Wahlberg delivers a driven and energetic performance, the type of performance also delivered by the never-better Gibson. After his film debut in BE COOL, former musician Benjamin delivers another inspired performance, showing undeniable screen charisma. He's possibly the most sympathetic of the titular brothers. And Hedlund, who appeared in two hits last year (TROY and FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS), is quietly charming as the timid and more soulful Jack. These four are the film's focal points mainly, though Howard, of CRASH and HUSTLE & FLOW, is fine as a local detective and Ejiofor is blazingly evil as the villian, perhaps drawing inspiration from the classic 70s blaxpoitation heavies.

Overall, FOUR BROTHERS is a genuine, old-fashioned, and engrossing ride which provides no-holds-barred thrills and compelling dramatics. If you're in the mood for a reprieve from the summer special effects spectacles, John Singleton's latest dramatic thriller should be your top choice the next time you go to the theatre.

A

PLANT!!!!!!!!!! Sounds good, might have to check it out this weekend.

Review here: http://www.worldofkj.com/reviews/Arsalan/4Brothers.php
Grade: B+

LOL. No, it showed on a local Naval base, as many films do as part of a morale program. But its fun to be called a plant.

Damn good movie for what it was, strong acting among all four of the lead actors and Terrence Howard. B+/B

Anybody know the actual running time of this movie? - I've seen 109 minutes and 148 minutes...

Thanx in advance!

The movie wasnt perfect but I cant help but think back to John Singleton's other movie Boyz in the Hood where I actually cared about the character's death. Also when I thought that it was a revenge movie, I thought it was more of a revenge movie in the same vein as Man On Fire and NOT Ransom or Payback which both of those Mel Gibson movies I disliked and I normally like his movies. I think part of the problem is that Singleton falled too back on the cliche of having the corrupted cop thinking he was set up using the same old trick of "I got everything in recording" crap. What did work is the great relationship between the 4 brothers and it probably would of been suited more better as a drama. As an action movie it fails with too much random shooting out in a crowded area. It should of been more cerebal and not sloppy like that

B/B-

Whoa - this ended up being a real good movie - it moved me...

I enjoyed the crazy complexity of the plot, and all four brother's characters, and the setting of their Detroit 'hood. I loved being drawn through this whacked justice screed as a willing observer.

Why didn't I hear more good things about this movie, before now?

4 out of 5.

I was expecting a gritty, intense, realistic urban drama. What I got was a lame TV show. The plot was totally UNrealistic. (Even in Detroit the cops wouldn't let you get away with a gunfight that resulted in multiple homicides.) The whole thing felt forced and melodramatic and the performances were as shallow as a wading pool.

Great, great action movie.

B+

Forgot to write about this one.

This film was actually a minor surprise. I expected the film to be good, but not as good as it turned out to be. The only thing that seemed out of place was David Arnold's score. He's the composer of all of the recent Bond films, along with John Singelton's remake of Shaft. His score for the movie seemed out of place here. All of the action scenes sounded like they had music straight out of a Bond film. It worked in Shaft but it seemed out of place here. However, that's only a minor complaint. The story carries the film.

A-

I went and saw this film with a friend who went along with the fact I wanted to go and he did not. It was very good and very sad. Its warming how the brothers were bonded even after not seeing each other for a number of years. B+

Mediocre at best. The acting was decent but nothing spectacular. The story was well done but far to uneven. The film had some great moments but a good portion of it lagged terribly. The music choices were also terrible and at some points downright funny. However, overall it was a good film, and had a well crafted plot with a great ending. B-

Better than I expected.

B

Big positive surprise. A-

A-

Very good vintage crime story. The first 3/4s were heading for A+ material, but the last 1/4 was too long and sloppy enough to the point where I didn't relaly care anymore.

Corny and cliched revenge drama with poor performances from the leads. Wahlberg is obviously putting forth as little effort as possible and the others just can't act with Benjamin being the worst offender. His mere presence is grating. The film is too predictable for its own good, and it takes far too long to get to where we knew it was going to end up before it began.

Grade - D

B+


Four Brothers definitely was a pleasant surprise. We rarely ever get good action movies nowadays anymore and thankfully, this was one of those rare few. Certainly, the plot was somewhat unrealistic and a bit far-fetched (like no arrests being made despite a huge shoot-out), but the movie always kept me entertained and it had a really good portion of humor in it as well. The best piece of acting is (surprisingly) delivered by Mark Wahlberg, followed by the always-good Terrence Howard (who stars in every single movie released in Hollywood, Bollywood and on Mars nowadays).

The big shoot-out scene during which one of the brothers is killed is one of the best-made and most intense action scenes of the last year. The movie's ending, however, is sadly anti-climatic, even though rather clever. On the whole, however, it is a really good revenge actioner.

I'm with Lecter, again. I enjoyed this way too much.

Solid action flick that goes on a bit too long but has some great sequences within it. The story isn't particularly involving or interesting, and the acting is decent at best, but the action scenes are thrilling and the direction is solid. Above average action/thriller.