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Four Brothers By David DiCerto Catholic News Service NEW YORK (CNS) -- The term "blood brothers" takes on new meaning in director John Singleton's excessively violent revenge drama "Four Brothers" (Paramount). Set in Detroit, the film revolves around four street toughs raised as brothers who return home to avenge the murder of their adoptive mother, Evelyn Mercer (Fionnula Flanagan), a neighborhood saint who took in troubled youths written off by the system. As evidenced by its poster, the twist is that two of the "Mercer boys" are black -- responsible family man Jeremiah (Andre Benjamin) and lover boy Angel (Tyrese Gibson) -- and two are white -- loose-cannon Bobby (Mark Wahlberg), Evelyn's least successful reclamation project, and guitar-strumming Jack (Garrett Hedlund), the youngest of the brood who is teased incessantly about his (ambiguous) sexuality. Evelyn's death during a convenience store robbery is initially dismissed as a tragic case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, but as the brothers track down the killers they discover that the crime is not as cut and dried as the police report would have them believe. To find out what really happened, they start "knocking on a few doors," pursuing -- with varying degrees of enthusiasm -- a lawless brand of street justice best summarized by the tattoo emblazoned across Bobby's broad back: "no mercy." Apparently, Bobby never read Pope John Paul II's 1980 encyclical "Dives in Misericordia" ("Rich in Mercy") in which the late pontiff reaffirmed the church teaching that true justice flows from forgiveness. Despite believable performances and chemistry, the quartet is wholly unsympathetic (save for Benjamin) and their thuggish eye-for-an-eye tactics have little to do with true justice and undermine the story's emotional core. Rounding out the cast are Terrence Howard as childhood friend Lt. Green, the cop in charge of their mother's murder investigation; Sofia Vergara as Angel's hot-blooded girlfriend; and Chitwetel Ejiofor (hiding his British accent well) as Victor Sweet, a Motown mobster. The wintry exteriors (shot partially in Detroit, but mostly in Canada) provide a somber backdrop for the grim action. The setup is good, but the shaky script's human drama quickly gives way to car chases and gunplay, including an over-the-top shootout that goes on way too long. It is also troubling to see Bobby sporting a rosary around his neck, reverently tucking it into his shirt before he rearranges someone's face. During a Thanksgiving dinner, the brothers say grace before being reminded by Evelyn -- via flashbacks -- to chew with their mouths closed. (Funny, they fondly recall what Evelyn taught them about table manners but draw a blank when it comes to what she may have imparted about the morality of dousing people with kerosene while menacing them with a lit cigarette.) Initially Jeremiah voices objections to their revenge-driven violence, saying their mother wouldn't approve, to which Bobby glibly responds, "We can't all be saints." The film contains recurring strong violence and gore, vengeful killings, vigilantism, a sexual encounter, some crass sexual humor, fleeting rear shower nudity, pervasive raw language and profanity. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is O -- morally offensive. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R -- restricted. - - - DiCerto is on the staff of the Office for Film & Broadcasting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. END Copyright (c) 2005 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed. CNS · 3211 Fourth St NE · Washington DC 20017 · 202.541.3250 |
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