Four Brothers

Mark Wahlberg is perfectly cast in Four Brothers as an angry, scruffy Detroit greaseball returning home to avenge his foster-mother's murder during a convenience store robbery. While not known for his emotional range, here Wahlberg's soft-featured scowl embodies resounding heartbreak without giving an inch on toughness or bravado. Reunited with his foster brothers—fellow former delinquents played well by Garrett Hedlund, Andre Benjamin (of the Grammy-winning rap duo Outkast), and Tyrese Gibson—it isn't long before they're literally beating a path through the ghetto toward any suspects they can uncover. Unfortunately, it isn't much longer before a convoluted conspiracy begins to emerge as well. Inspired by Westerns and Blaxploitation flicks, director John Singleton fills Four Brothers with moody darkness as the brothers' haphazard vigilantism not only poses risks to their lives but also takes a toll on their souls. Singleton also successfully mounts an incredible midnight car chase and an out-manned, out-gunned firefight that would do Sergio Leone proud. But despite its strengths, and a chilling villain performance by Chiwetel Ejiofor (Melinda and Melinda), the movie falls apart in the last act, which is a total fantasy laughably dependent on Ejiofor behaving 100-percent predictably as the brothers spring retribution traps—an absurd finale that is a fatal blow to an otherwise solid, gritty revenge flick. Not a necessary purchase. [Note: Available in either widescreen or full screen versions, DVD extras include audio commentary by director John Singleton, nine deleted scenes (12 min.), the production featurettes “Crafting Four Brothers” (11 min.) and “The Look of Four Brothers” (10 min.), a “Behind the Brotherhood” featurette on the cast (9 min.), a four-minute behind-the-scenes look at the “Mercer House Shootout,” and trailers. Bottom line: a fine extras package for a disappointing film.] (R. Blackwelder)