Starring Mark Wahlberg, Tyrese Gibson, Andre Benjamin, Garrett Hedlund, Sofia Vergara, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Josh Charles, Terrence Howard
Written By:
Directed By: John Singleton
Studio: Paramount
Buy on Amazon.com link

When the adoptive mother of 4 boys is murdered in cold blood, the estranged brothers reunite for the first time in years, and come together for questions, answers, and revenge. Knowing their mother was a do-gooder, her murder raised a lot of red flags, and the brothers knew something was not right. Deciding to stick around in their Detroit neighborhood, the brothers get down and dirty, and what makes them that much stronger is that they have each other. Starring Mark Wahlberg, and Tyrese Gibson, Four Brothers is sure to please the DVD world.

Evelyn Mercer (Fionnula Flanagan) always lived life safely, and taught her life lessons to her many adopted children, 4 of which were Bobby (Walhberg,) Angel (Gibson), Jeremiah (Benjamin,) and Jack (Hedlund.) Bobby was a former Hockey player with a destructive past, who also took on the Big Brother role of the household like busting chops of the younger brothers, but also standing by them whenever they needed. Angel was a former Marine, who did wrong here and there, but he also has redeeming qualities. He won’t stand for anyone pushing him around, and would go that extra mile to help his brothers or anyone out. He’s also the “Mack Daddy” so to speak since he’s back in town, so that means he could steal away a girl from another and not worry about the consequences. Hell, I would too if it was Sofia Vergara. Jeremiah is the brother who stuck around Detroit and helped out Mom while the other guys went away from their past. Jeremiah is more down to earth of all 4 brothers, and has a family of his own now. Last, Jack is the youngest brother, and his past remains a mystery. You can see it on his face that he’s been through a lot during his childhood, and if it wasn’t for Evelyn Mercer, he’d be probably dead now. He also gets picked on the most by the rest of the family. When the cops (Howard, Charles) do little to get involved, the brothers take it upon themselves to get the answers, and it eventually turns over some stones, and find the answers they are looking for. It’s not pretty, but they are going to do what it takes to get vengeance. It turns out local, rich thug Victor Sweet (Chiwetel Ejiofor) is involved and the hunters become the hunted. I won’t spoil the good stuff, you’ll have to discover that yourselves.

Extras were pretty interesting to watch. A few small featurettes include The Look of Four Brothers, Crafting.., Behind the Brotherhood, and Mercer House Shootout. All of them were fun to watch as you learn what went into making this John Singleton directed film. From the overall look of the set, building, recreating different parts of Detroit, etc. let the viewer believe the movie really takes place in Detroit, whereas most were soundstages and in Hamilton, Ontario which is pretty much the Canadian Detroit. Crafting Four Brothers looks at the overall production and story of the film, with interviews with the writers, cast, and crew. Behind the brotherhood was my favorite. This piece showed how the cast built their camaraderie, like playing ice hockey as seen in the movie, and bullshitting on the set as four brothers would have. Mercer House shootout shows the logistics of how an extensive shootout scene gets developed and plays out, and shows how important safety can be. A few good deleted scenes are included with special features and some are good as stand alone clips but I think it took away from the pacing of the story. If you really want to get into the whole film, you have the option to listen to Director John Singleton do commentary during the movie, but I never check that out. The extras were also nice because they weren’t 3 hours long, they said what they said and it was done.

Watching the movie for the first time, on the way back from London, I decided to check it out. I heard good things from friends during its theatrical run, and I must say it kept me in the zone watching the whole time. After awhile, I totally forgot I was on the plane. Some of the scenes are intense, emotional and there are a few comedic moments believe it or not. I was pleasantly surprised at the film, and would recommend to anyone who loves drama thrillers, with some good ole’ gunplay.

Features:
-Commentary by director John Singleton
-The Look of Four Brothers
-Crafting Four Brothers
-Behind the Brotherhood
-Mercer House Shootout
-9 Deleted Scenes
-Theatrical Trailer

Audio:
-ENGLISH: Dolby Digital 5.1 CC
-ENGLISH: Dolby Digital Stereo CC
-FRENCH: Dolby Digital 5.1

Video:
-Widescreen 1.85:1 Color (Anamorphic)

Subtitles:
English, Spanish

Favorite Scenes: Mercer House shootout, hockey game, car chase in the snow, fight on ice
Rating: R
Running Time: 108 minutes
Extras Rating:
Overall Rating: