I saw the first 10-12 minutes of this film last night and I must say, I was thoroughly unimpressed. It wasn't bad, per se, it was just...there. The entire opening set up the notion that this film has been hand-made for a twist ending (oh how I hope I'm wrong about that). Then there's the cast, which is...meh, check for yourself on the ol' IMDB.

I'll still give it a shot in August with hopes that John Singleton does something with all of that potential he's been carrying around since his debut. I'm not too optimistic about it, though.

-JP

I saw the trailer (attached to Mr. & Mrs. Smith), and Four Brothers did not look very good to me.

You can view the trailer here and decide for yourself:
http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/fourbrothers.html

Singleton? Wahlberg?

There isn't much be to excited about.

I caught a screening of this last night in the Twin Cities and I thorougly enjoyed it. Going in, I was afraid I would hate it because I'm not a big Wahlberg or Singleton fan, but it was enjoyable all the way through.

There are quite a few times in the movie that stretch credibility to say the least. It is the sort of movie where you need to shut your brain off and ignore certain incredible things (namely how the brothers get away with everything they do, even in Detroit, without getting busted). It's like I said to a friend on the way out of the theater, that isn't the real Detroit on the screen, but some Wild West version of it.

But like I said, the movie is funny at times and has some decent action. The characters are likeable yet they are very far from being good guys. I just felt like Hollywood ain't making this type of film very much any more and it was a very enjoyable, entertaining ride.

I'll probably check this out eventually. Might wait til DVD or even until it hits HBO. I don't have high expectations for it so maybe I'll impressed.

My friend and I saw the trailer before War of the Worlds. After it was over he turned to me and said "there's only 2 brothers".

Looks interesting. I will wait for rental though.

Hey badger1997...where was the screening you went to last night? I got an invite for one at the MOA, but didn't feel like going there.

It was at the Regal theater in Brooklyn Center. They also gave out passes for another screening of the movie July 25 at Block E downtown, but I gave my pass to my friend because he knew some people who wanted to see it as well.

I've been wanting to see this since I saw the trailer but from the looks of things I'll probably wait to rent it on DVD.

If you liked the trailer, why not give it a try? Not that this is one that HAS to be seen in the theaters, but it's definitely worth a matinee showing sometime for a cheaper price. Very entertaining and I forgot to mention before the great soundtrack that featured a lot of Motown and R&B songs. Before it started there was a disclaimer about it being an unfinished cut so I suppose the music could change, but it worked great and gave a great feel to the movie so I hope that stays the same in the final cut.

That's being nice.

The film's a flat-out cartoon. But it's an entertaining one, and the first Singleton film FOR ME that connected at all. I was shocked.

Wahlberg's never been this loose onscreen before.

Is Marky Mark wearing the 14 inch cock? If not, count me out.

The review up at Ain't it Cool isn't too bad. Says it's nothing great either.

from Jeffrey Wells' HOLLYWOOD ELSEWHERE column (minor spoilers):

Elder-ly

John Singleton's Four Brothers is quality crap, and I mean that respectfully.

It's basically a John Wayne western...a likable, stupid-ass gunfight movie that nonetheless works because it turns the cliches around just enough in each scene, and because the acting and dialogue between the actors playing the bi-racial brothers (Mark Wahlberg, Tyrese Gibson, Garrett Hedlund, Andre Benjamin) is warm and spirited and funny now and then, and because the action scenes are organically slam-bang -- fast and hard with a kind of '70s verismilitude.

This would be a great movie to see at a drive-in if there were still drive-ins. It's also the kind of film that probably plays a little bit better if you're drinking beer.

It's a formula revenge thing about four Detroit guys going after the gangsta scum who were behind the shooting death of their mother. It's all pulp but I didn't mind it, and I was expecting to hate it because I haven't trusted Singleton in a long time. I could feel the audience at last night's all-media screening having a good time. It's going to do pretty well this weekend.

David Elliot and Paul Lovett's script seems pretty closely modelled on Henry Hathaway's The Sons of Katie Elder (1965), which was about four rambunctious brothers avenging their father's death and untanglng a financial swindle that had victimized their mother.

Kindly but tough-talking Evelyn Mercer (Fionnula Flanagan) is fatally shot for absolutely no reason during a random grocery holdup, which means, of course, that she's the victim of a hit. The movie starts with her four sons coming home for her funeral, and we know they'll eventually get wise and take action.

What wins you over is that Singleton takes his time getting to this point, paying attention first to character-building with good humor and easygoing acting and even some surreal stuff.

When the action stuff kicks in (the highlights are a nighttime car chase during a blizzard and a ferocious attack on the family home by the baddies with automatic weapons), he goes for balls-out vigor but in a non-martial-artsy, forget-John-Woo way that feels refreshing as shit.

As an ex-con with a hair-trigger temper, Wahlberg pretty much carries every scene he's in. Steady backup is provided by Gibson (Baby Boy, 2 Fast 2 Furious), Benjamin (mainly known as a rapper with OutKast) and Hedlund (the kid with the asshole father in Friday Night Lights).

Also good (if under-utilized) are Hustle & Flow alumni and Singleton pals Terrence Howard and Taraji P. Henson. British actor Chiwetel Ejiofor (last in Woody Allen's Melinda and Melinda, and before that in Stephen Frears' Dirty Pretty Things) pretty much kills and is even amusing a couple of times as a Detroit gangster who keeps his troops in line by occasionally humiliating them a la Warren Beatty's "crawl and bark like a dog" routine in Bugsy.

http://www.hollywood-elsewhere.com/

I believe this is a loosely based remake of the John Wayne Movie "Sons of Katie Elder".

Just got back from seeing this one and i have to say i enjoyed it very much! Wahlberg gave an outstanding performance i think, he was extremely raw and just rugged! Tyrese was great as well, he has alot of charisma, i hope he keeps it up. Overall, its a fun movie and people should give it a try.

Saw this Thursday night and I wasn't impressed at all. Here's my problem:

The film is supposed to be gritty and realistic - but there's no realism in ANYTHING they end up doing. It's one stupid, violent situation after the next that has no grounding in reality whatsoever.

Wow, this seems to be a love it or hate it type of film. Not much in the way of middle ground it seems. If you guys want to see an awesome revenge film, hunt down Dead Man's Shoes.

Saw it. Liked it a lot. Definitely a mix of old John Wayne Westerns and action flicks of the mid 70s. Nothing exceptional, but highly entertaining. If you've got time to kill for a matinee on a weekend or day off, check this one out.

I never got any idea that this movie was striving to be realistic. Gritty, yes. Realistic, no. It was totally unrealistic. I made the comparison to the Old West when I saw it last month and I've seen it made in a few other reviews since. You've got to be ready to accept some EXTREMELY unrealistic situations in this movie to enjoy it so I have no clue how anybody would get the idea the film was "supposed to be gritty and realistic."

The movie is extremely fun and even though I saw it at a free screening last month, I'm still tempted to pay to see it again now that it's been released. The shootout scene and the car chase scene alone are worth the price of admission if you ask me. But if you go into this movie expecting high art or realistic situations, you are going to be very disappointed.

I didn't realize Detroit was a ghost town!!!!!!

I saw it this past weekend and I have to say I enjoyed it. It's just a fun movie that has the right amount of action, humor, character that you can walk out with a smile on your face at the end and realize it did exactly what it was meant to do and that's entertain without being taken too seriously. Wahlberg is badass in the movie and I have to give credit to Andre Benjamin as he seems to be somewhat comfortable in front of the camera. Fun movie worth atleast a matinee and definitely a shining star in the summer movie line-up of remakes & bad ideas.

let me chime in here and say I was very disappointed in this. The story was just ludicrous and the acting ranged to decent to bad. I tried to be entertained but midway through I was just "this is stupid".

a D in my book.

I had to leave the theater after the shoot-out/chase scene. Can someone tell me how it ended ??