“FOUR BROTHERS” (2005)

Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Tyrese Gibson, André Benjamin
& Garrett Hedlund
Written by David Elliot & Paul Lovett
Directed by John Singleton

Polly Staffle Rating: **

When a director makes a great film their first time at the helm, it can kind of work as a curse. Ideally a director wants to show some promise in their debut and give the audience a glimpse of things to come. But when you make a masterpiece of a movie like John Singleton's “Boyz N the Hood” the first time out, you're forever doomed to living up to it.

Singleton's “Four Brothers” doesn't make the grade. The movie, starring Mark Wahlberg and Tyrese Gibson, is a lot of fun with plenty of over-the-top moments, making it a great popcorn feature, comparable to any Hollywood action film. But that's all it is. There's no Spike Lee-esque preachiness or symbolism like “Boyz N the Hood,” “Higher Learning” or “Baby Boy.” It's not that I have to have that in a movie. It's just that's what I expect when I sit down to a John Singleton film.

Wahlberg, Gibson, Andre Benjamin and Garrett Hedlund are the four Mercer brothers. When they were younger, they were adopted by a white woman who worked with orphaned children. She took them in because they were problem children nobody wanted. When their mother is gunned down, they all return home. Wahlberg's character Bobby makes it clear early on that he isn't there to attend the funeral. He wants justice and proceeds to try and get it.

The script for this movie must have been dug up from a time capsule buried in 1972 and dusted off. The film could have played perfectly in a blaxploitation triple feature with “Super Fly” and “Shaft.” This film doesn't have the stereotyped roles of those movies, but the action is the same.

The brothers walk into a club looking for the bad guy. Without warning that they are coming for him, the bad guy instantly knows who they are and why they are there. He proceeds to open fire and run out the back exit. In another scene, Bobby walks into a gym hosting a basketball game, pulls out his gun, takes the ball and begins screaming “who killed my mother.”

There's also a broad daylight shootout that features a small army of masked men with machine guns attacking the Mercer house. The gun battle goes on for quite some time and nobody ever fears the police might come. Once the smoke has cleared, Bobby actually starts yelling for help and that an ambulance is needed. I'm pretty sure the neighbors had already seen this little reenactment of Waco and either fled or called 911 long ago. There are never any cops to be found any time someone is shooting a gun off in this film, but a whole police station surrounds a house in a matter of seconds when they are informed one of their officers might be in danger.

And there's a whole lot more where all that came from. There's an exciting car chase in heavy snow, a bare-knuckle-brawl finale, police and politician corruption and about as many “you don't look alike” brother jokes you would ever want to hear.

Wahlberg is in good form here. He is perfectly cast as the loose cannon brother. Gibson is a good compliment to Wahlberg, playing the brother who would be the out of control one if he didn't have a girlfriend that screams at him and tells him what to do. Benjamin plays the straight family man and doesn't bring much to the table, but what do you expect from a member of Outkast. Hedlund is along for the ride to be the butt of the movies' gay jokes, which are also ran into the ground.

Did I like this movie? Yes, I enjoyed it quite a bit. It's a lot of fun in the “can you believe what just happened” kind of way. There's nothing too crazy here, but surely Singelton wasn't taking himself too seriously when he made this. This is no “Boyz N the Hood,”but had this been his debut film, I'd still be interested in seeing what he had coming next.

- CCF, February 2006