John Singleton drives me crazy. He has a gift for creating interesting and "cool" protagonists, compelling plot ideas, and immersive atmospheres in his films. But he just doesn't seem to be able to tell a story that doesn't trip on its own shoelaces at some point as it dashes for the finish line. If he ever gets it right, he may well come up with a movie for the ages, instead of the interesting but flawed spectacles that he is known for (his most famous film, "Boyz.." is powerful but not "great".) This is still the case for "4 Brothers". It has some very powerful moments, and scenes that may stick in your memory for many years to come. However, the viewer should go to see for those moments and enjoy them as they happen, and not think too much about the overall worth of the story being told.
The screenplay starts out with an interesting, gritty idea for an urban drama, featuring four anti-hero protagonists with a strong ensemble chemistry. But about 1/3 of the way in, the screenplay rides off into Cloud Cuckoo Land and starts throwing so many extra elements into the mix that the results just don't hang together. And at some point, the "Oh suuuuure" factor simply becomes too much.
Some examples: At one point, brother "Bobby" disrupts a basketball game at a community center by pulling a pistol out at center court and threatening the teams and the crowd with it. The ostensible reason for this is to flush out a runner or a witness who they can track to their quarry. And it works. But there are NO consequences for pulling this stunt, which should have been a 3rd degree felony at the very least, and should have brought the police down on the brothers like a hammer on rye toast.
Another example: One of the brothers ("Angel") resumes a relationship with an old flame as soon as he comes back to town, and the girl ends up virtually living in his bedroom over the course of the next few days. (As Shaft said in Singleton's previous film,"You've got to pay your duty to that booty."") This is all well and good, and is meant to flesh out the character as a complete person and not just a vengeance driven stereotype...but literally every scene involving this girlfriend drags on with cheesy sitcom humor that stops the movie dead. And again, the "Oh Suuuure" factor pops up: Angel and his brothers are on their way out the door to pursue an urgent hot lead to their mother's murder, and the girlfriend wastes 40 seconds of screen time complaining about the meal she spent two hours cooking while Angel tries to placate her. It's supposed to be funny, but it isn't. You can't believe for a second that Angel wouldn't quash that noise with a curt reply about what his REAL priorities were, or that the girlfriend would be so shallow that she wouldn't realize what was at stake.
Another problem: the film can't decide whether to pay attention to the police efforts or not. In the beginning, it appears that the police aren't going to be effective in their efforts, and the two actors playing the investigative team just seem to be doing walk-on roles. Then the black member of the team gets some screen time as things heat up, and it appears as if he may play an important role, his partner shoots him, and he dies. There just wasn't enough screen time spent establishing the cops as sympathetic characters or otherwise before the shocking murder takes place. Just as we start to know and like the character, he gets shot dead.
Problem numero four: more than halfway into the movie, the investigation proceeds leads to figure behind the murder, a gangster on the rise called Victor Sweet, and then the movie proceeds to spend a LOOOONG scene that shows Sweet is a sinister, sadistic creep who rules by humiliating and dominating his men. And "Oh Suuuuure" factor pops up again when Sweet goes out of his way to humiliate a loyal lieutenant by promising to cuckold him with his new wife. It's a nasty, glib scenario and is guaranteed to rankle the sensibilities of anyone watching. (I don't blame the actor for this, though - I think he was giving the performance the director wanted.)
And these are just the flaws I thought of in 30 seconds. The whole 2nd half of the film is like this, with false notes and miscues jarring the viewers' suspension of disbelief and irritating his desire for an integrated, seamless story. If not for the performances, cinematography and soundtrack, you'd be really irritated at the careless scripting going on here.
It sounds as if I hate this movie. But really, I don't. All the actors are good-to-great, even Mark Wahlberg, whose continued career success is mostly inexplicable to me. As I've said previously, there are lots of powerful moments, well staged gunfights and visceral fistfights, and clever dialog and witty byplay. I pick on the film's problems because there is so much here to like, and yet the viewer has to keep turning his or her brain off to keep the story from annoying him to distraction. It's a good film that could have been a GREAT film if only Singleton would learn to keep his films a little simpler and a little more consistent.
Singleton apparently has three films in the pipe after "4 Brothers"...it's entirely possible that wiser collaborators may get him to calm down a bit and help his storytelling gifts gel better. I certainly hope so. But in the meantime, I'll continue to go see Singleton's movies for the definite pleasures they provide.
The screenplay starts out with an interesting, gritty idea for an urban drama, featuring four anti-hero protagonists with a strong ensemble chemistry. But about 1/3 of the way in, the screenplay rides off into Cloud Cuckoo Land and starts throwing so many extra elements into the mix that the results just don't hang together. And at some point, the "Oh suuuuure" factor simply becomes too much.
Some examples: At one point, brother "Bobby" disrupts a basketball game at a community center by pulling a pistol out at center court and threatening the teams and the crowd with it. The ostensible reason for this is to flush out a runner or a witness who they can track to their quarry. And it works. But there are NO consequences for pulling this stunt, which should have been a 3rd degree felony at the very least, and should have brought the police down on the brothers like a hammer on rye toast.
Another example: One of the brothers ("Angel") resumes a relationship with an old flame as soon as he comes back to town, and the girl ends up virtually living in his bedroom over the course of the next few days. (As Shaft said in Singleton's previous film,"You've got to pay your duty to that booty."") This is all well and good, and is meant to flesh out the character as a complete person and not just a vengeance driven stereotype...but literally every scene involving this girlfriend drags on with cheesy sitcom humor that stops the movie dead. And again, the "Oh Suuuure" factor pops up: Angel and his brothers are on their way out the door to pursue an urgent hot lead to their mother's murder, and the girlfriend wastes 40 seconds of screen time complaining about the meal she spent two hours cooking while Angel tries to placate her. It's supposed to be funny, but it isn't. You can't believe for a second that Angel wouldn't quash that noise with a curt reply about what his REAL priorities were, or that the girlfriend would be so shallow that she wouldn't realize what was at stake.
Another problem: the film can't decide whether to pay attention to the police efforts or not. In the beginning, it appears that the police aren't going to be effective in their efforts, and the two actors playing the investigative team just seem to be doing walk-on roles. Then the black member of the team gets some screen time as things heat up, and it appears as if he may play an important role, his partner shoots him, and he dies. There just wasn't enough screen time spent establishing the cops as sympathetic characters or otherwise before the shocking murder takes place. Just as we start to know and like the character, he gets shot dead.
Problem numero four: more than halfway into the movie, the investigation proceeds leads to figure behind the murder, a gangster on the rise called Victor Sweet, and then the movie proceeds to spend a LOOOONG scene that shows Sweet is a sinister, sadistic creep who rules by humiliating and dominating his men. And "Oh Suuuuure" factor pops up again when Sweet goes out of his way to humiliate a loyal lieutenant by promising to cuckold him with his new wife. It's a nasty, glib scenario and is guaranteed to rankle the sensibilities of anyone watching. (I don't blame the actor for this, though - I think he was giving the performance the director wanted.)
And these are just the flaws I thought of in 30 seconds. The whole 2nd half of the film is like this, with false notes and miscues jarring the viewers' suspension of disbelief and irritating his desire for an integrated, seamless story. If not for the performances, cinematography and soundtrack, you'd be really irritated at the careless scripting going on here.
It sounds as if I hate this movie. But really, I don't. All the actors are good-to-great, even Mark Wahlberg, whose continued career success is mostly inexplicable to me. As I've said previously, there are lots of powerful moments, well staged gunfights and visceral fistfights, and clever dialog and witty byplay. I pick on the film's problems because there is so much here to like, and yet the viewer has to keep turning his or her brain off to keep the story from annoying him to distraction. It's a good film that could have been a GREAT film if only Singleton would learn to keep his films a little simpler and a little more consistent.
Singleton apparently has three films in the pipe after "4 Brothers"...it's entirely possible that wiser collaborators may get him to calm down a bit and help his storytelling gifts gel better. I certainly hope so. But in the meantime, I'll continue to go see Singleton's movies for the definite pleasures they provide.