Four Brothers

The first thing I have to say about Four Brothers is that it is extremely, heavily violent and in no way pulls its punches. It paints a rather disturbing picture of Detroit, and I hope that this culture of near mayhem was merely exaggerated in the film and not actually reflective of reality. However, I will say this about the level of violence—it was absolutely necessary in order to demonstrate the force of the brothers’ anger in a tangible way.

As we know from the previews, Evelyn Mercer (Fionnula Flanagan) is a sweet, matronly woman who provides a temporary home for children prior to their adoptions. She’s a veritable saint in the neighborhood as she is able to miraculously turn these children’s lives around through tough love and unrelenting empathy. We see her ability to reach tough kids in the opening scene as she chastises a little boy for attempting to steal candy from a convenience store. He realizes that crime doesn’t pay and is off to change the world after her life-changing lesson in morality, etc... Unfortunately, she is murdered soon thereafter, and four boys that she had adopted after no one else would take them in, return home for her funeral. All four are described as being lost causes but for the fact that Evelyn Mercer turned their lives around (for the most part anyway). Police Lieutenant Green (Terrence Howard) tells his partner that these guys are saints compared to what they would have been without Evelyn’s guiding hand. The brothers are self-described as being “straightish,” meaning that they’re not necessarily bad people, but they don’t always play within the confines of the law.

Apparently, the four Mercer brothers are also much less forgiving than their adoptive mother. They quickly set out to discover who killed Evelyn, not caring as much why she was killed as they are concerned with vengeance. They figure out the “why” only as a consequence of finding out who was responsible and at whom they should therefore aim their multitude of guns. Bobby Mercer (Mark Wahlberg) is the oldest and natural leader of the group, and he is also the smartest and toughest. He shows a great amount of affection for his adoptive brothers through a large amount of sarcastic, brotherly razzing. This aspect of the film was perhaps my favorite, as there were constant humorous exchanges between the brothers. Since their interaction was the strongest indicator of their family allegiance, the audience is able understand and sympathize with their need for vengeance.

Bobby leads his brothers through what turns out to be an admittedly weak conspiracy, but the process itself is interesting to follow and the characters were likable enough for me to want them to get their vengeance. Everyone in Detroit seems to carry a gun in this film, and Bobby is frequently forced to resort to intimidation and violence in order to gather information. They do what the have to do, however, and unapologetically work their way toward the top of the conspiracy. There were moments when I was surprised by their violence, and the director (John Singleton) definitely didn’t pull any punches in telling this story.

I enjoyed this movie for its characters and its dialogue—the conspiracy itself left something to be desired, but the process of discovery was entertaining enough to keep my attention. I’m not sure the movie intends to leave the audience with any message or reality to think about, but like its characters, the film is not apologetic for its purpose.