It’s easy to think of Detroit as some weird outpost of the wild, wild Midwest.
In movie after movie, the town is treated as the go-to locale for films that delve into the lawless, the gun-toting (fully automatic, please) and the amoral.
Of course, the Motor City isn’t really the Deadwood of contemporary urban centers.
Still, in “Four Brothers,” John Singleton’s hugely entertaining revenge flick, the land of rusted-out Big Four dinosaurs and Motown grooves gets a gritty, bloodied close-up.
Yet what a wonderfully tender regard the director shows the city and his characters the Mercer Brothers (written by David Elliot and Paul Lovett).
Few movies so bent on exacting payback take time to honor grief the way this one does.
Singleton’s clear confidence with his material and the improbable sibling chemistry of its leads – Mark Wahlberg, Tyrese Gibson, André Benjamin and Garrett Hedlund – make “Four Brothers” a wild ride that mixes its adrenaline rushes with Kleenex moments and lots of laughter.
In her brief appearance as Eyelyn Mercer, Fionnula Flanagan seals the audience’s pact with her sons. Her murder must be avenged – and if the legal system can’t help, it can step out of the way.
When Evelyn Mercer is shot down in a convenience-store robbery, Detroit’s finest treat it as just another sorry example of gang violence swallowing up the innocent. They even have an eyewitness to confirm their weak theory. Even so, detectives are at the ready when Evelyn’s four adoptive sons gather for their beloved mother’s funeral.
As Lt. Greene (Terrence Howard) tells his partner Detective Fowler (Josh Charles) these men were the four hard cases the well-known foster mother of supposedly unwanted kids couldn’t place.
So she adopted Bobby, Jeremiah, Angel and Jack.
Wahlberg plays hot-headed Bobby, who drives into the movie with a hard look on his face. But when the men go to their mom’s house after the service, he is the first to weep, though he tries repeatedly to gay-bait his youngest brother Jack (Hedlund).
Angel, played by Gibson (whose feature film debut was the lead in Singleton’s “Baby Boy”) has returned from the service and is ready to pick up with his Latina girlfriend, Sofi (Sofia Vergara in a role likely to draw some ire as a fiery stereotype).
Benjamin’s portrayal of upstanding Jeremiah suggests that for all the fab clowning the Outkast member has done (and his goofball turn in “Be Cool”), he has depth as a dramatic actor.
A fledgling businessman with a young family and the will to be part of Detroit’s future, he has the good sense to try to keep it legal. When he can’t, he splits as his brothers take the law into their own hands.
Fortunately, he doesn’t thwart their rough-and-ready investigation. Because once Bobby, Angel and Jack start yanking on the thread of their mother’s death, things become harrowing – but also heartfelt and occasionally hilarious.
Conspiracies are revealed. The brothers go head to head with a baddie named Victor Sweet. He’s a sadist in a fur coat, but British actor Chiwetel Ejiofor (so wonderful in “Dirty Pretty Things”) has the discipline to never head over the top.
For a time it seemed as if David O. Russell (“Three Kings,” “I Huckabees”) was the only director capable of bringing to the screen Mark Wahlberg’s brilliant madness.
Singleton successfully taps on his star’s noggin, getting the furrowed brow, the weird fury, the surprising appeal. But Wahlberg isn’t the only one flexing his gifts here. This is a film with plenty of ensemble muscle.
“Four Brothers” is the second summer movie Singleton has been involved in: He ponied up much of the cash for Craig Brewer’s “Hustle & Flow.”
Like that film, “Four Brothers” seduces us into rooting for some very iffy behavior. And like that film, “Four Brothers” – with its chill old-school soundtrack – might be criticized as old-fashioned.
Listen up: If old-fashioned is just code for leaving the theater smiling, sign me up.
Film critic Lisa Kennedy can be reached at 303-820-1567 or lkennedy@denverpost.com.
“Four Brothers”
***½
R for strong violence, pervasive language and some sexual content|1 hour, 48 minutes|DRAMA|Directed by John Singleton; written by David Elliot & Paul Lovett; photography by Peter Menzies Jr.; starring Mark Wahlberg, Tyrese Gibson, André Benjamin, Garrett Hedlund, Terrence Howard, Josh Charles, Sofia Vergara, Fionnula Flanagan, Chiwitel Ejiofor|Opens today at area theaters
