Description: Four adopted brothers come together to bury the woman who raised them. At the funeral, the brothers discover that their mother was murdered, and they look to seek revenge.
Amazon.com: Bound by love for their slain adoptive mother, the brothers in Four Brothers form a unique quartet that gives John Singleton's film a razor's edge of redemption. It's a thin edge, to be sure, because while Singleton's urban Western pays homage to the Blaxpoitation films of the '70s (as he did with his remake of Shaft), it walks a fine line of credibility with a mythic vengeance plot (recalling John Wayne's 1965 hit The Sons of Katie Elder) that endorses violence as the last resort of a family under siege. When a saintly foster mother (Fionnula Flanagan) is gunned down in a convenience store, her only adopted sons (two white, two black, played respectively by Mark Wahlberg, Garrett Hedlund, Tyrese Gibson and Andre Benjamin) go after the killers, only to discover that their mother's death was not a random event. As they uncover a sticky web of criminal activity involving a local kingpin (Chiwitel Ejiofor), the character-driven plot races toward an inevitable showdown, with ex-con Wahlberg leading the way. Making excellent use of blue collar locations in Detroit, Singleton keeps the action moving fast enough that the film's lack of realism is easily ignored, and the well-drawn characters (including Terrence Howard as a tenacious detective) lend emotional dimension to an otherwise familiar revenge scenario. Four Brothers is manipulative, but it's filled with grace notes of rugged working-class humanity, and it definitely holds your attention. --Jeff Shannon
Not Nearly as Bad as Everyone Says... Okay, so Four Brothers might not teach the smartest ideals about avenging someone's death. Not to mention these guys never get locked up for their deeds. But that's missing the point. The movie is a mediation on choosing one path over the other. I don't care how well the brothers were brought up, but they are still street kids, with a penchant for violence and they would rightfully want to avenge their mother's death in the only way they know how. This is illustrated with the wonderful talent of Andre Benjamin, who is reluctant to partake in his brothers' violent ways. The film is incredibly entertaining, almost too much so, to the point where there are multiple nonsensical scenes merely for entertainment. But that is all okay! It wasn't supposed to win best picture, and it doesn't play to hollywood like many other films do. The cinematography and locales are superb, and I felt right at home in the blue collar hoods, that actually look similar to what you would find in Denver. The snow really added to the film, and my favorite part was the slippery car chase in a blizzard. Having gone through blizzard after blizzard here in Colorado, I found it very welcoming. And also, many reviewers are saying it was unintentionally funny, when I believe it was intentional. This film is a send up of blaxploitation flicks, a word I have not seen mentioned on this website, and the over the top fight scenes and chase scenes set alongside funk music are meant to inject a certain level of humor. Don't take this film TOO seriously, and you will have a great time. People are too skeptical these days of everything to begin with. I enjoyed four brothers immensely, and the music and acting was top-notch. It's also great to see Andre 3000 act in films nowadays.
falls short on credibility The premise of this film is good: four adoptive bothers meet to unravel and then seek revenge for a seemingly meaningless killing in a rough urban scene. The actors are also very good, starting with Wahlberg, who carries an entire environment in the roles he chooses. Unfortunately, as the story unfolds, I felt that it became almost comicbook-like in the way that it cut corners: there is rampaging violence with little consequence, like even taking suspects into the police station for questioning (except when it advances the plot); the characters slowly lose credibility as they take smarter and smarter actions; and the ending has not one but two deus ex machina devices that ruin the remaining realism.
What the film becomes is a kind of shoot'em up cowboy movie, with an icing of realism implied. At that, it isn't too bad, but it is entertainment when it could have been a much much finer film. Not recommended.
Not bad! Average shoot-em up but fun to watch. Acting could have been better.
The delivery of High Def via Blu-ray was excellent!
Amazon's delivery of this product was excellent!
Lame and hard to take seriously
I'll be honest I never finished this movie. It was that bad. The trailer is great but this film was more group therapy than anything else. I like the idea of adopted children coming together to find their mother's killer. But it was weak. I think they spent most of their time playing ice hockey than anything else. I got rid of it but I think the main character tried using a gun to get the attention of everyone in the gymnasium. Nobody took him seriously, and neither did I.
Good concept, bad script and actors that tried with what they had.
All the elements of a good movie... This film was surprisingly good, in my opinion. It was well directed and produced with an excellent cast. I would recommend it highly for its uniqueness alone.
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