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Printer-Friendly ModeFour Brothers finds revenge in most of the right places
August 25, 2005 —
Four Brothers is a revenge movie that is half predictable and half new territory. It treads a fine line between being exactly what one would expect from such a movie, and exploring some new methods for this framework. It generally stays on track, despite a slow midsection and an overly convoluted and unlikely conspiracy.
The four brothers are Bobby (Mark Wahlberg), Angel (Tyrese Gibson), Jeremiah (Andre Benjamin) and Jack (Garrett Hedlund). All were adopted by an apparently extraordinary woman named Evelyn Mercer, and all go by the same last name, despite not being actually related. In fact, two are black and two are white. Nevertheless, they are for all intents and purposes brothers, and the film stays true to this throughout.
The setting is Detroit, and the setting and tone is where Four Brothers really shines. Certainly growing up in Michigan and seeing Detroit many times may affect my judgment a bit, but I haven't seen such a convincing portrayal of a locale since Sling Blade's southern small town communities.
The movie seems to be shot entirely on location, in the winter. The brothers are all into hockey, and Bobby, with his dark hair and permanently furrowed brow, certainly looks the part of the hockey tough guy here.
It's hard to describe the mix of feelings this location helped create in the movie. The depressing snow and poverty, the crime and desolation, but also the homely atmosphere at times all contributed. The neighborhood where Evelyn lived feels like a real neighborhood, not a movie set. All of this lends a degree of realism the movie would not have otherwise had.
The acting is all very acceptable throughout. Mark Wahlberg gives a narrow but effective performance, and his figure is the one that stuck with me after the movie closed. Tyrese Gibson and Andre Benjamin are both originally from the music industry, and unlike some performers who use their star power to land movie roles, they each put on convincing performances. Garrett Hedlund as Jack is a bit forgettable, but that is more the fault of the script and editing than it is the actor; early on we are shown glimpses of what appears to be a haunted past, but it is never developed.
As the movie opens, we see Evelyn shot to death, apparently thoughtlessly, during a convenience store robbery. A short time after the funeral, the devastated brothers decide that there must be more to this crime. After investigating, these suspicions are cemented. At this point the movie becomes rather plodding, as the brothers make discovery after discovery, and the plot thickens, and thickens. And thickens. At times it felt like a bit much, and as the movie approached its conclusion I was more interested in just seeing things resolved than I was in the ins and outs of why poor Evelyn was killed.
However, that is what a movie like this is about, after all. This is a revenge tale, a battle between good and evil, where it is the responsibility of the heroes to set things right, and that's that. Four Brothers is not a comprehensive character study devoted to teaching us new lessons about human existence. It is about four people who decide to stand up for themselves and their loved ones and do what has to be done. And it works.