Four Brothers

***
UK Release Date: September 30th 2005

Four brothers look to avenge their mother's death.

Director: John Singleton (2 Fast 2 Furious, Shaft)

Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Tyrese Gibson, Andre Benjamin, Garrett Hedlund, Terrence Howard, Sofia Vergara, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Josh Lucas

The quartet are at their weakest apart, at their strongest together. Mark Wahlberg leads this disjointed family, and it takes the death of their surrogate mother to reunite. Tyrese Gibson returns with director Singleton, and newcomers Andre Benjamin (known as Andre 3000 from Outcast) and youngster Garrett Hedlund make up the pack.

No one in Detroit, Chicago bats an eyelid when the Mercer brothers start tearing up its streets. They threaten gangsters with gasoline and a lit cigarette, hold a thug off a building by his leg, have a car chase threw a snowy blizzard and take part in a mass shoot-out that feels like it's been pulled straight out of Heat. Not even the police (represented by Terrence Howard and Josh Lucas) seem bothered.

The story is far-fetched. Who would believe that these neglected no-gooders could resort to such obscene violence? Not Mrs. Mercer, that's for sure. There's a sense of morality every time the brothers are together, but not trying to wreak havoc. Try as they might, nothing will ever go back to the way it was. Mercer returns to them as a memory as they have Thanksgiving dinner. They're kids again; bickering and squabbling about the smallest things. This is when our feelings for them grow.

Chiwetel Ejiofor's kingpin Victor Sweet, who's behind all the mayhem, is a tad on the jokey side. In the eighties he might have been taken seriously. Whenever Sweet reigns down on the Mercer's parade, the effects aren't as powerful as we'd hoped. By the end, it makes you wonder, was it all worth it?