Movies

Violent revenge flick has appealing cast of bad-boy characters

01:00 AM EDT on Friday, August 12, 2005

BY MICHAEL JANUSONIS
Journal Arts Writer

Four adopted brothers -- two white, two black -- set out to avenge the murder of their mother, who was slain during a convenience store stickup, in the exciting on-the-run Four Brothers.

Set in contemporary Detroit, the film is a reworking of the 1965 John Wayne-Dean Martin film The Sons of Katie Elder, in which four brothers are reunited to avenge their mother's death.

The two films run on parallel tracks. In Four Brothers, the four mismatched Mercer brothers -- the hotheaded Bobby (Mark Wahlberg), the ladies' man Angel (Tyrese Gibson), the rock-star-in-his-own-mind Jack (Garrett Hedlund), the businessman with a family Jeremiah (Andre Benjamin) -- work more or less in tandem to solve the crime. They owe everything to their mother, Evelyn Mercer (Fionnula Flanagan), a community do-gooder who adopted each of them because she couldn't find any other families to take them.

During their investigation, the brothers uncover the unnerving fact that her murder may not have been a random incident, and theorize that she may have been set up. This hypothesis is introduced early in the film, although the reason why the angelic Evelyn might have been slotted for death is couched in such an offhand way, you might miss it. (Evelyn, in a brief scene, is seen as the thorn in the side of corruption and apparently knows too much.)

John Singleton (Boyz N the Hood, 2 Fast 2 Furious) directs the hard-edged Four Brothers at a slam-bang pace. It's all about the energy, the car chases, the shootouts, which are both exciting and daring.

It's all about the brotherhood, too, with the four stars creating a real camaraderie and sense of a family bond as they bicker and fuss in a friendly way, even though they have very different personalities.

Flanagan's Evelyn turns up as a ghost throughout the film to watch over her boys. This adds an offbeat Touched By an Angel aspect, especially in a film that otherwise revolves around violence.

The brothers are not shy about using strong-arm tactics or going into dangerous territory to find the killer. At one point they commandeer a big neighborhood basketball championship game that threatens to get out of control. There's a restaurant shootup and a car chase through snowy streets in pursuit of the guys that the brothers think are the killers.

At one point, the brothers find themselves in the middle of a firefight on their street, pitting them against the hitmen of a gangland lord. It lasts for a good long time, during which you might ponder why none of the neighbors has called 911.

There are double-crossers; good characters who get eliminated suddenly; surprisingly, characters who lead double lives; red herrings; and a shocking twist you probably won't see coming. It's a twisty path, although in hindsight Four Brothers does not seem as complex as it's laid out.

Wahlberg draws on the tough guys he's played in the past to make Bobby a compelling central figure and the leader of the pack. He overshadows the other characters, even the tough gangland leader, although Benjamin (better known as Andre 3000 of the Grammy-winning Outkast) provides oily charm as the self-proclaimed most successful brother.

Writing partners David Elliot and Paul Lovett have added a surprising amount of humor to the plot, especially in the relationships between the brothers. This moves what could have been a solid action flick into the realm of reality, helping it over unbelievably tight spots.

***

Four Brothers

Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Tyrese Gibson, Andre Benjamin, Garrett Hedlund.

Rated: R, contains violence, profanity, nudity, adult themes.