Four Brothers

Four Brothers (2005)

Directed by John Singleton

Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Tyrese Gibson, Terrence Howard, Josh Charles, Garrett Hedlund, Andre Benjamin

Bobby Mercer (Wahlberg), Angel Mercer (Gibson), Jeremiah Mercer (Benjamin), and Jack Mercer (Hedlund) are brothers who just lost their mother. She was shot during an apparent robbery. Now they’re home trying to find out who did it and why. Their arrival home isn’t unnoticed by the local people including Detective Fowler (Charles) and Lieutenant Green (Howard) of the local police. While they investigate the crime they are also trying to keep the Mercer brothers from getting involved. As the mystery comes unraveled the facts of the crime are far more complicated than anyone thought.

This movie wasn’t a stretch for John Singleton, a director who is known for his hard-life movies like Boyz n the Hood and Higher Learning. This time his cast includes Mark Wahlberg (The Departed), Tyrese Gibson (Transformers: Dark of the Moon), and Terrence Howard (Crash). In addition, this movie also features Josh Charles (The Good Wife), Andre Benjamin (Revolver), and Garrett Hedlund (Troy).

This one has some pretty cool action sequences. The action is the star of this one, with chase scenes and shootouts that really move nicely. I’m also a sucker for a revenge flick, so this one worked for me on some levels.

The story for this film has potential, but it doesn’t really seem to hit the mark. If it wasn’t for a decent group of actors this one might not have worked at all. Josh Charles, Terrence Howard, and Mark Wahlberg pulled this together with some good acting. It’s not much of a stretch for Wahlberg to play a guy from the bad part of town. The rest of the cast all did good work with the roles they were given. I think the failure in this movie comes from the twists, which seem to keep on coming. Had the plot been simplified a bit, this might have been a great movie instead of a good one.

If you’re a fan of revenge films or action this one might work for you. I also think most Wahlberg fans will enjoy this one as well. I give this one 3 out of 5 stars.

Rating: R

Running Time: 109 minutes