Susan Granger’s review of “Four Brothers” (Paramount Pictures)
Back in 1965, John Wayne’s “The Sons of Katie Elder” related the saga of the rowdy sons of a frontier woman who set out to avenge her death. The camaraderie of that vintage Western, directed by Henry Hathaway, has now been urbanized and updated – although not acknowledged – by director John Singleton (“Boyz N the Hood”) and writers David Elliot & Paul Lovett. Set in contemporary Detroit just before Thanksgiving, the convoluted story begins with maternal, law-abiding Evelyn Mercer (Fionnula Flanagan) reaming out a neighborhood youngster who tries to steal candy from a shabby convenience store. Shortly afterwards, she’s gunned down in what looks like a robbery attempt. When her four grown foster sons (Mark Wahlberg, Tyrese Gibson, Andre Benjamin, Garrett Hedlund) gather for the funeral, it quickly becomes obvious that her death was not random. It was premeditated murder. But why would anyone want to kill this saintly old woman? While the local police detectives (Terrence Howard, Josh Charles) are supposed to solve the crime, Evelyn’s angry, hot-headed, rebellious sons are determined to take the law into their own hands. Mixing vigilante justice with blaxploitation, John Singleton delivers an implausible shoot-’em-up scenario, including one bizarre scene in which the gun-waving brothers terrorize the entire crowd at a high-school basketball game, demanding that an informant come forward. No one even thinks of calling “911” but, when one scared kid quickly skulks away, they know they’ve nabbed their first clue. Then there’s a stooge peddling Baby Ruth bars. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Four Brothers” is a violent, amoral 4. Do yourself a favor: forget it!
