Four Brothers (film)
| Four Brothers | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | John Singleton |
| Written by | David Elliot, Paul Lovett |
| Produced by | Lorenzo di Bonaventura |
| Starring | Mark Wahlberg, Tyrese Gibson, Andre Benjamin, Garrett Hedlund, Terrence Howard, Josh Charles, and Chiwetel Ejiofor |
| Music by | David Arnold |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release dates | August 12, 2005 |
Running time | 109 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $40,000,000 |
Four Brothers is a 2005 film starring Tyrese Gibson, Andre Benjamin, Mark Wahlberg, and Garrett Hedlund. The movie was directed by John Singleton. The film is a reworking of the film The Sons of Katie Elder.
Quick Summary
The Mercer Brothers, Bobby, Jeremiah, Angel and Jack, are reunited by the murder of their adoptive mother. Despite constant warnings to let the police do their job, the brothers are intent on tracking down those responsible and meting out justice. They soon realise, however, the simple "robbery-gone-wrong" was just a cover for something more sinister, and the brothers must fight an uphill battle they never saw coming. Thank God for loving brothers.
Story Expansion
The seemingly-random murder of their adoptive mother in a convenience store sends four brothers to Detroit on the path of vengeance when they uncover a tangled criminal web involving a local kingpin...
After returning to Detroit for their mothers funeral, four adopted brothers set about avenging their mothers death, though warned not to by childhood friend and investigating officer Lt. Green (Terrence Howard) who admonishes that the police must be allowed to do their job, at the great derision of Bobby (Wahlberg).
Originally under the impression the crime was a simple "robbery-gone-wrong", the brothers soon discover that the robbery was merely a cover for what was, in fact, a "hit" put out on their beloved mother. After this revelation, Bobby, Angel (Gibson), and Jack (Hedlund) track down the hired guns. After an intense car chase, the assasins are cornered and, refusing to say anything, are unceremoniously executed by Bobby and Angel.
The next day, Angel is informed that Jeremiah (Benjamin) is the beneficiary of their mother's $400,000 life insurance policy and that his construction is nearly bankrupt, facts which he had neglected to mention in any previous conversation. After further investigation, is given the impression that Jeremiah's construction projects were shut down by the city after it was discovered he was involved with an mob boss named Victor Sweet (Chiwetel Ejiofor). Angel brings this information to Bobby and Jack, coincidentally in the same bowling alley in which they soon witness Jeremiah paying off one Sweet's men.
After confronting Jeremiah with their concerns, in a rather violent manner, the brothers are treated to a somewhat different version of events. That Jeremiah's construction company was failing precisely because he wasn't getting involved with Vcitor Sweet, and that for a project to succeed he had to pay off the right people, which is why they witnessed him pay off Sweet's henchman at the bowling alley. At this point all hell breaks loose.
Jack is lured to the front door, where he is greeted by a snowball in the face and an epithet degrading his mothers virtue, in anger he proceeds to chase the offender, who suddenly turns around and fires two rounds into his chest. At this point Bobby notices, which dread, Jack's absence, and, rushing to the front door, is in time to greet a van from which emerges a team of masked gunmen. A massive firefight ensues, with Jack stranded, injured and crying for help, in the middle of the street. In the end, the Mercer boys manage to subdue their assailants, who, they learn, have been sent by Victor Sweet, though when they reach Jack he is beyond help and dies.
When Lt. Green arrives he informs them that their mother had a few weeks past filed a major police report regarding Victor Sweet and his involvement in Jeremiah's affairs, and that report was passed on to Victor Sweet, this confirms in the brothers minds the knowledge that Sweet was responsible for their mothers murder. The brothers then admonish Lt. Green for his association with his partner, Detective Fowler (Josh Charles), who was responsible for taking their mother's report and passing it on to Sweet. Saying that Fowler was his problem alone, Green is later killed by Fowler, after revealing to Fowler his knowledge that Fowler works for Sweet.
Truly on their own, the now three brothers devise a plan to buy Victor Sweet off with the $400,000 from their mother's life insurance. Sweet accepts, but this plan requires the elimination of Detective Fowler, which is done courtesy of the Detroit S.W.A.T. Team. Jeremiah then meets with Sweet on a frozen lake (most likely Lake Saint Clair. After Victor Sweet's arrival, though, it is revealed that while waiting for Sweet, Jeremiah has convinced Sweet's men, whom Sweet treats so very poorly, to abandon Sweet and come back to work for him, an honest day for an honest wage. When Sweet then asks who'll challeneg him to a climactically necessary fight, out of the tundric white emerges Bobby. Bobby and Sweet have a fistfight, in the course of which Bobby defeats Sweet. The movie leaves open the question of whether Bobby kills Sweet or merely renders him unconscious, however no doubt is left as to his fate after he is dropped in a hole carved into the ice.
The three brothers, now in police custody, are brutalised in an attempt to make them confess to the murder of Victor Sweet, but none of them crack (while getting their own cracks in). The brothers are finally released, and set about the work of repairing their mothers house, which has been so terribly damaged by the firefight which took Jacks life.