Four Brothers (2005)


Four brothers Jeremiah (Andre Benjamin), Jack (Garret Hedlund), Angel (Tyrese Gibson) and Bobby (Mark Wahlberg) are reunited in Detroit at their mother's funeral. As one cop explains it, Evelyn Mercer (Fionnula Flanagan) was a longtime foster mother, the four boys she adopted were the only children she was not able to find homes for because they were all incorrigible.

Now the Mercer boys are back to bury their mother who was killed during a candy store robbery. Until this time the Mercer brothers have lived separately and without contact, only Jeremiah stayed in Detroit and lived near his mother. Jeremiah, a successful real estate businessman is married, he and his wife Camille (Taraji Henson) have several children. The remaining brothers, once scattered, are now staying at their mother's house and we watch as each handles his own separate grief. There is a touching scene at the Thanksgiving dinner table where the four men hold hands in prayer (as they were taught by mom) and give thanks. They try to talk about other things but thoughts of their mother and her death lay heavy in the room. When they find out that the word on the street is their mother's death was not a random killing they try to find out the truth. The store owner allows them to watch the security tape and they see that their mother's death did not come from a random shooting, but was a cold execution. Who and why would someone kill an old harmless woman who seemingly had no enemies? While searching for truth and their own justice, the brothers have to deal with Angel's jealous girlfriend Sofi (Sofia Vergara) who at one point, unintentionally puts them in harm's way.

Lieutenant Green (Terrence Howard) and his partner, Detective Fowler (Josh Charles) are good cops but their hands appear to be tied by crime bosses and other forces in the city. You won't forget Chiwetel Ejiofor as Victor Sweet, a major Detroit crime boss. He bullies and humiliates his own people to the point where you want to look away from the screen. Although this movie is dark and gritty in mood and color, it is really entertaining and has a good, tight cast. However, there is so much bloodshed that it takes on a mesmerizing, gruesome and twisted, fairytale quality. Rapid-fire bullets, countless bodies, death everywhere.

The real surprise is that the movie and the casting works. Four brothers--two white, two black, bonded only by mean streets and one woman's unconditional love. You do get the feeling that they are a real family. Those who come to this movie expecting to see stud-boy Marky Mark in low-slung jeans will be surprised to find in Marky's place, a fine actor. The role of the tough hair-trigger temper brother, suits Mark Wahlberg to a "T". Singer/actor Tyrese Gibson is better known simply as Tyrese.

"Four Brothers" was directed by John Singleton who writes of inner-city life with ease. "Four Brothers" has been compared to "The Sons of Katie Elder", the 1965 western about four trouble-making brothers who avenge their mother's death after attending her funeral. It stars John Wayne, Earl Holliman, Dean Martin, and Michael Anderson Jr. as the Elder brothers. Singleton is also producer of "Hustle & Flow" which stars Terrence Howard and Taraji Henson.