Movie Review: Four Brothers

Four Brothers (2005) 

Directed by John Singleton 

Written by David Elliott, Paul Lovett

Starring Mark Wahlberg, Tyrese, Andre Benjamin, Garrett Hedlund, Terrence Howard 

Release Date July 1st, 2005 

Published July 1st, 2005 

The amazing John Singleton has, according to some, never lived up to the potential shown in his debut feature Boyz N The Hood. This perception is not shared by this critic. I have enjoyed all of Mr. Singleton's films, save his Shaft remake out of fealty to the original as much as a negative opinion of the filmmaking. His Baby Boy and Rosewood are extraordinarily underrated and even his most commercial effort, the car porn 2 Fast 2 Furious was at the very least high camp popcorn entertainment.

Mr. Singleton's latest effort, the revenge drama Four Brothers, combines elements of Mr. Singleton's artistry and commercialism better than any of his previous films. This ostensible modern remake of the John Wayne western The Sons Of Katie Elder, is stylish in its homage to classic westerns and the ouvre of Charles Bronson and brilliant in its sense of compelling violence and family drama.

Mark Wahlberg stars as Bobby Mercer, the oldest of four troubled adopted sons of the saintly Evelyn Mercer (Fionnula Flanigan). When Evelyn is killed in the midst of a convenience store robbery Bobby comes home to reunite with his brothers, Jeremiah (Andre 3000 of the rap duo, Outkast), Jack (Garrett Hedlund) and Angel (Tyrese Gibson). Soon after the reunion Bobby rallies his brothers to find the guys who killed their mother.

According to the cops, the friendly detective Green (Terrence Howard) and the shady detective Fowler (Josh Charles), Mrs. Mercer was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. However, soon after launching their far more extensive and violent investigation, the Mercer boys uncover a dangerous conspiracy that leads to the halls of Detroit's City Council and naturally to the city's top thug, Victor Sweet (Chiwetel Ejiofor).

Each of the four brothers is a fully fleshed character with backstories that include multiple stays in prison, the military and a litter of failed relationships. For Angel, returning to Detroit means rekindling a dangerous romance with Sofi (Sophia Vergara) that, while not the film's strongest plot, does provide much of the film's humor. Vergara is very sexy but underserved by a role that simply asks her to be needy and screechy when she is not needed to simply provide eye candy.

Hustle and Flow's Taraji P. Henson shows up in Four Brothers as Jerimiah's wife. Her role is limited to being constantly worried and put off by her husband's brothers and the trouble that seems to follow them, but Ms. Henson is a welcome presence for what little screen time she has.

Surprisingly there is no attempt to give Bobby a love interest, a choice that breaks the mold of typical screenwriting that always calls for the star to be paired with someone. That someone, more often than not in films so heavily infused with testosterone, is a functionary role, a mere plot point and not a character.  So it is a welcome relief that the filmmakers refrained from employing that tired device.

While some complain that a career as a genre filmmaker was not what they had hoped for in John Singleton, I think it suits him. Moreover it suits the genre film to have such a talented artist bringing such talent to bear on what is essentially B-movie material. It would be nice to see Singleton deliver another powerful drama like Boyz N The Hood or Rosewood, but I for one will follow Mr. Singleton's work wherever it takes him.

Movie Review: Abduction

Abduction (2011) 

Directed by John Singleton

Written by Shawn Christensen 

Starring Taylor Lautner, Jason Isaacs, Alfred Molina 

Release Date September 23rd, 2011

Published September 23rd, 2011 

How bad is "Abduction?" I kept trying to imagine the characters from the brilliant "Mystery Science Theater 3000" sitting in the row in front of me making the experience of "Abduction" tolerable through snarky commentary. "Abduction" is mind-blowingly bad from the action to the supposed suspense and especially to star Taylor Lautner who is entirely over-matched by this awful material.

Nathan (Taylor Lautner) is a below average High School teenager who, when we meet him for the first time, is riding on the hood of a speeding truck for fun. Putting aside the complete and utter irresponsibility of such an action, is this the best way to introduce a main character?

Nathan only gets dumber at a party where he gets blitzed and wakes up on someone's lawn. Again, why are we being introduced to our main character this way? Nathan gets picked up from the party by his angry father (Jason Isaacs) and his punishment is a fight, not a screaming match, an actual fight. Dad makes Nathan put on some boxing gloves and box while hung over. What does this have to do with anything? Who knows?

Eventually, the movie does get down to the promised business of Nathan finding his image on a missing children website. The site turns out to be a front for an international terrorist who has apparently been waiting 18 years for one kid to search one of several hundred websites for his own picture.

The terrorist wants to abduct the kid but first he has to find him, kill his parents and fend off some CIA folks who are also tailing the kid; Alfred Molina plays the CIA guy and does what he can to make his character interestingly ambiguous. Sigourney Weaver is less successful as Nathan's shrink with a secret.

Poor Lilly Collins, so interesting in "The Blind Side," so whiny and forgettable in "Abduction." The only way that "Abduction" might have worked is if director John Singleton had switched the genders of the lead characters and had Lilly Collins as the butt-kicking teen abductee and Taylor Lautner as the simpering sidekick/romantic interest.

Ok, there isn't really anything that could have made "Abduction" interesting. Director John Singleton is far too talented for a movie this bad and yet his name is on it. Singleton, who has in the past taken clichéd action stories and turned them into fun exercises in B-Movie cliches in movies like "Four Brothers" and "2 Fast 2 Furious" fails miserably with the same formula in "Abduction."

Taylor Lautner is, I am sure, a very nice kid. Unfortunately, his acting is blank eyed and stony. Lautner has the body of an action hero but the acting instinct of someone not being properly directed. Lautner's eyes are constantly searching for something off camera to reassure him of what he's supposed to be saying or doing.

"Abduction" suffers right along with its star, desperately seeking a direction and finding only one nonsensical situation after another. The plot of "Abduction" relies on more contrivances than your average direct to DVD thriller. Among the humorous low-lights: CIA Agents and bad guys who can always find the good guy no matter where he is or what he does yet act as if they couldn't find their keys with a map.

"Abduction" could be fun just as it is in the hands of Mike Nelson and the "Mystery Science Theater" crew. I am not half the snarky quipster those guys are and I managed to entertain myself thoroughly at the expense of "Abduction." I can only imagine the fun that a trained group of jokers could have watching this hysterically bad movie.