`FOUR BROTHERS' PACKS A WALLOP.Byline: Glenn Whipp Film Critic DIRECTOR John Singleton sin·gle·ton n. An offspring born alone. singleton Medtalk One baby. Cf Triplet, Twin. continues his impressive run of lean, mean genre films with ``Four Brothers,'' a rousing revenge flick that delivers the goods with a mixture of tight action, vivid performances and an old-school soundtrack that evokes the best of blaxploitation blax·ploi·ta·tion n. A genre of American film of the 1970s featuring African-American actors in lead roles and often having antiestablishment plots, frequently criticized for stereotypical characterization and glorification of violence. cinema. Purveyors of bloated, self-important garbage like Michael Bay (``The Island'') and Rob Cohen cohen or kohen (Hebrew: “priest”) Jewish priest descended from Zadok (a descendant of Aaron), priest at the First Temple of Jerusalem. The biblical priesthood was hereditary and male. (``Stealth'') should watch this movie, take notes, then buy the DVD DVD: see digital versatile disc. DVD in full digital video disc or digital versatile disc Type of optical disc. The DVD represents the second generation of compact-disc (CD) technology. and take more notes. Two lessons immediately come to mind: 1) It is possible to make an entertaining action movie that clocks in at under two hours, and 2) action scenes do not have to be edited in such a way that they induce brain seizures. Singleton's economy is established from the outset: It takes all of two minutes for tough-talking, saintly saint·ly adj. saint·li·er, saint·li·est Of, relating to, resembling, or befitting a saint. saint  li·ness n. Evelyn Mercer (Fionnula
Flanagan) to be murdered in her convenience store, the apparent victim
of a gang-related robbery.
Cue Marvin Gaye's classic ``Trouble Man.'' Enter Mark Wahlberg For the actor and television game show host, see Mark L. Walberg. Mark Robert Michael Wahlberg (born June 5 1971) is an Academy Award-nominated American actor and television producer. as Bobby, one of three brothers returning to snow-shrouded Detroit for Evelyn's funeral. The Mercer boys - who include ex-Marine Angel (Tyrese Gibson, back with Singleton following impressive work in ``2 Fast 2 Furious'' and ``Baby Boy''), haunted musician Jack (Garrett Hedlund) and local businessman Jeremiah (Andre Benjamin) - were adopted and raised by Evelyn. While the brothers have all been in and out of trouble, Detroit police detective Lt. Green (Terrence Howard) notes, ``They're congressmen compared to what they could have been.'' Lt. Green knew the Mercers back in the day. Now it's his job to keep an eye on to watch. - Shak. See also: Eye them. The one-sheet says it all: ``They came home to bury mom ... and her killer.'' The screenplay, credited to David Elliot For other persons of the same name, see David Elliott. David Elliot is a New Zealand illustrator, known internationally for his contributions to the Redwall fantasy series by British author, Brian Jacques. and Paul Lovett, isn't exceptional, essentially a decent episode of a '70s cop show filled with crooked cops, corrupt politicians and an exceptionally vivid underworld kingpin (Chiwetel Ejiofor from ``Dirty Pretty Things'') who has a flair for humiliating hu·mil·i·ate tr.v. hu·mil·i·at·ed, hu·mil·i·at·ing, hu·mil·i·ates To lower the pride, dignity, or self-respect of. See Synonyms at degrade. those who disappoint him. Singleton makes it sing, in large part due to his always smart casting choices and a couple of great action set pieces - a superbly filmed shootout Shootout Venture capital jargon. Refers to two or more venture capital firms fighting for the startup. at the Mercer home (the handheld camera work puts you right in the thick of it) and a sliding-and-gliding car chase through icy Detroit. (White powder hasn't been used this effectively in a movie since ``Boogie Nights.'') Through it all, the four leads make a convincing family of knuckleheads, trash-talking, bear-hugging and cuffing each other around when necessary. They're not always pretty, but they get the job done. So does Singleton. He has turned into one of our most dependable filmmakers. Glenn Whipp, (818) 713-3672 glenn.whipp(at)dailynews.com FOUR BROTHERS - Three stars (R: strong violence, pervasive language, some sexual content) Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Tyrese Gibson, Andre Benjamin, Garrett Hedlund, Terrence Howard. Director: John Singleton. Running time: 1 hr. 47 min. Playing: In wide release. In a nutshell: Revenge pic gets the job done. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Garrett Hedlund, left, Andre Benjamin, Mark Wahlberg and Tyrese Gibson share an unlikely bond in director John Singleton's ``Four Brothers.'' |
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