Four Brothers (2005) is an action crime film directed by John Singleton. The movie stars Tyrese Gibson, Andre Benjamin, Mark Wahlberg, and Garrett Hedlund. The film was shot in Detroit, Michigan and Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.[2] This film is loosely based on the 1965 western film The Sons of Katie Elder. The MPAA rated this movie R for strong violence, pervasive language and some sexual content.
Plot
The seemingly random murder of their adoptive mother in a convenience store sends four brothers from Detroit on the path of vengeance when they uncover a tangled criminal web involving a local kingpin.
After Evelyn Mercer's funeral, the brothers return to their childhood home and notice things are exactly the same as they remember them. Angel and Jack take their old rooms and begin to unpack while Bobby attempts to do the same in Evelyn's room but finds the atmosphere unbearable and breaks down while the sounds of "I Wish It Would Rain" by The Temptations fills the house. "Too weird in Mom's room?" asks Jack. "way too weird." replies Bobby. The next day the brothers spend time catching up, watching hockey, throwing playful jabs at one another and laughing before having Thanksgiving dinner. Each brother looks toward the empty seat that Evelyn occupied and has different thoughts about things Evelyn previously said to them. Jeremiah hears her ask him to chew with his mouth closed; Angel hears her notice his new tattoos and begins to cover them until Evelyn shows him a tattoo on her right shoulder; Jack hears her tell him that although bad things happened to him before he came to her, he will be safe now.
Originally under the impression the crime was a simple "robbery-gone-wrong", the brothers soon discover that the robbery was merely a cover for what was, in fact, a "hit" put out on their beloved mother. After this revelation, Bobby (Mark Wahlberg), Angel (Tyrese Gibson), Jeremiah (Andre Benjamin) and Jack Mercer (Garrett Hedlund) track down the hired guns via the alleged "witness", named Damian, (Lyriq Bent) who was paid by the hitmen. Information was given to them by Damian's brother after Jack noticed him leaving the stands after they interrupt a basketball game trying to get answers. The brothers find Damian while entering his apartment and he gives up the location of the hitmen after falling and badly injuring his leg. The brothers then approach the contract killers at a bar, which leads to an intense car chase. The assassins are eventually cornered and, refusing to say anything, are unceremoniously executed by Bobby and Angel.
The next day, Lt. Green and Detective Fowler (Josh Charles) confront the brothers about the murder. Fowler, losing his head, claims Bobby's hair was found on the victims—to which Bobby responds is "an old one (trick)"—knowing it was a lie. Lt. Green warns them once again, telling them that their snooping is ill-advised, and that it will eventually put them in over their heads.
Later in the week, Angel is informed that Jeremiah is the beneficiary of their mother's $400,000 life insurance policy and that his construction company is nearly bankrupt, facts which he had neglected to mention in any previous conversation. After further investigation by the brothers, Angel believes that Jeremiah's construction projects were shut down by the city after it was discovered he was involved with a mob boss. After presenting this information to Jack and Bobby, Jack and Bobby confront the corrupt city councilman to learn the boss' name, Victor Sweet (Chiwetel Ejiofor). Angel, Bobby and Jack's worst fears are realized when they witness Jeremiah paying off one of Sweet's men, Evan, in a bowling alley with their mother's life insurance.
After confronting Jeremiah with their concerns, in a rather violent manner, the brothers are treated to a somewhat different version of events. Jeremiah informs them that his construction company was failing precisely because he wasn't getting involved with Victor Sweet, and that for a project to succeed he had to pay off the right people, which he initially failed to do. In his effort to restore his business and relieve pressure from himself, he tried to pay off Sweet's henchman. As for the life insurance, Jeremiah explains that the money went directly to him for his daughters, because he paid all of their mother's bills while his other brothers weren't around. ) During the confrontation with Jeremiah, someone knocked on the front door. Opening the door, Jack is greeted by a snowball in the face and an epithet degrading his mother's virtue (your mother was a whore!). In anger he proceeds to chase the offender, who suddenly turns around revealing a masked face and fires a bullet into his right chest. Bobby notices Jack's absence, and, rushing to the front door, sees a van arrive which emerges a team of masked gunmen. Bobby quickly shoots dead the masked one who fired at Jack. But before Bobby can reach Jack, the youngest brother is shot an additional four times in the legs. A massive firefight ensues, with Jack stranded, injured and crying for help, in the middle of the street. The Mercer boys manage to subdue their assailants. Unfortunately, the brothers arrive too late and must watch helplessly as Jack dies in their oldest brother's arms. Nearly crippled by rage and grief, Bobby finds one of the gunmen still alive in the van and soon learns that Victor Sweet was behind the surprise attack and their youngest brother's death.
When Lt. Green arrives, he informs them that their mother had a few weeks past filed a major police report regarding Victor Sweet and his involvement in Jeremiah's affairs, and that report was passed on to Victor Sweet, this confirms in the brothers minds the knowledge that Sweet was responsible for their mother's murder. Lt. Green also tells them not to worry, as he assures them it will go down as self-defense. He also tells them that he recently learned Detective Fowler was the rat, who was responsible for taking their mother's report and passing it on to Sweet. Saying that Fowler was his problem alone, Green warns the brothers to stay out and let him handle Fowler and then they will work together on Sweet. After confronting Fowler at a bar, Fowler shoots and kills Green.
Truly on their own, the now three brothers devise a plan to buy Victor Sweet off with the $400,000 from their mother's life insurance. The first phase of the plan involved contacting Evan (who was a union friend of Jeremiah's), and getting Sweet to agree to accept the money. When Sweet accepts, Angel sets off for Fowler's. Arriving at Fowler's, he places a plastic bag over his head, informing him he has four minutes to live. He then phones Bobby and Jeremiah and tells them he has captured Fowler and Bobby tells Jeremiah to go meet Sweet. While this is occurring, Angel's girlfriend, Sofi, heads to the police station, where she tells the police that her boyfriend is going to kill a cop. The police then head for Fowler's in full force. Before the four minutes runs out, Fowler rips the bag off his head. With a gun pointed to his head, Fowler admits to Angel he killed Lt. Green, but no one would believe a criminal like Angel. Hearing the sirens in the distance, Fowler thinks they are coming for Angel, until Angel removes his jacket showing a wire. Pointing to an outside van, Angel claims the whole conversation was taped. Fowler attacks Angel and easily recovers Angel's gun. Using Angel as a hostage, Fowler tells the police to back off. At this point we learn that the van was not an actual surveillance vehicle, nor was the wire recording. It was merely a ruse to prove that Fowler was corrupt. Fowler opens fire on the officers, the officers return fire and kill Fowler.
Meanwhile, Jeremiah meets with Sweet on a frozen lake. After Victor Sweet's arrival, though, it is revealed that while waiting for Sweet, Jeremiah and Evan have convinced Sweet's men, whom Sweet treats very poorly, to abandon Sweet and come back to work for Evan. When Sweet then asks who will challenge him to a climatically necessary fight, Bobby is seen approaching from a distance. Bobby and Sweet have a fistfight, in the course of which Bobby defeats Sweet, rendering him unconscious; however, no doubt is left as to his fate after he is dropped in a hole carved into the ice.
The three brothers, now in police custody, are brutalized in an attempt to make them confess to the murder of Victor Sweet. The cops again use the line "your hair sample was taken from the body," but the brothers have learned from experience. Using the same alibi of "having sex with your wife", the brothers are finally released, and set about the work of repairing their mother's house, which has been so terribly damaged by the gunfight which took Jack's life. Angel goes to hang out with his girlfriend while Jerry goes in with his family. As Bobby is left alone he sees his mother standing on the steps. She says it's always nice to see him and asks if he will be staying for a while this time. He smiles and says he's thinking about it; she smiles back and the scene fades into the Detroit skyline.
During the end credits, there are clips of Bobby beating players and screaming to the crowd while playing hockey, Jerry in a suspected riot, Angel at an airport after stealing a man's credit card, and Jack playing guitar and singing to a crowd live.
Reception
On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, reviews were mixed, with 52% of critics giving the film positive reviews, based on 124 reviews, with the consensus that "despite striking a believable rapport among its principal actors, Four Brothers overwhelms with ultra-violent, vigilante-glorifying action and devolves into too many fractured, insubstantial thematic directions."[3]
Remake
The movie was remade into Malayalam as Big B by Amal Neerad with Mammootty, Manoj K Jayan, Bala, Sumit Naval, Nafisa Ali, Mamta Mohandas in lead. The movie was an average grosser.
References
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