Four Brothers

A kind old lady is murdered in cold blood one snowy night in a convenience store. It seemed like the usual stick up by racist hoodlums on the hard streets of Detriot, and that the lady was collateral damage.

Four orphaned brothers of the hood are brought back together to mourn the loss of their foster mother. We see the Mercer brothers Bobby, Angel, Jeremiah and Jack, bond together as they try not to openly weep. But deep down inside, they know the police can't do much to help a covered-up investigation, and swear sweet revenge upon those involved in the killing.

I was expecting loads of gun battles and intense action, but this movie surprised me with its witty moments instead. There weren't much wham-bang action, but the one which stood out was the ambush on the Mercer house, and the car chase sequence along frozen streets. The script was mildly intelligent with its weaving of the brothers' dalliances with the hoodlums, contract killers, government officers, and with crooked cops, bringing them all together for an interesting finale.

The last Mark Wahlberg movie I saw was The Italian Job remake, and here, Wahlberg reigns as he personifies the cocky hotheaded Bobby Mercer. Andre Benjamin seemed somewhat muted too, after his recent screen stint as a flamboyant and trigger-happy gangster in Be Cool. Perhaps it is his role as the family man which adds that extra dimension and difference between him and the rest of the brothers - he can't be as carefree or act with total disregard as he has people who depend on him.

This film also makes no apologies in adding that bit of realism to its dialogue, with street language and cursing aplenty, with plenty of stereotypical characters.

But all in all, it's an enjoyable flick, as we observe in silent glee, the four brothers exacting revenge with R&B music humming along in the background.