Four Brothers | A Saturday Night Special

Forgotten Cinema
Dec 10, 2025
2 min read

Brotherhood, Bullets, and a Whole Lot of Chaos

This week on Forgotten Cinema, we’re heading back to the gritty mid-2000s for Four Brothers (2005), John Singleton’s revenge-driven action drama about family, loyalty, and a whole lot of gunfire. It’s a film packed with attitude, big performances, and that unmistakable early-aughts energy, whether you think that’s a good thing or not depends on which Mike you ask.

The Nostalgia Factor

Butler has a soft spot for this one. Some of that comes from nostalgia, those mid-2000s gritty, street-level action movies hit a certain way, but a lot of it comes from the fact that Four Brothers still has a messy charm that works. The brother dynamics feel alive, the energy is there, and the film commits to its rough-edged style in a way that’s kind of endearing. It’s loud, chaotic, and sometimes ridiculous, but when it lands, it lands exactly how it intends to.

Field Isn’t Sold

Field, on the other hand, isn’t fully on board. Mark Wahlberg’s improvisational approach doesn’t do much for him, the action feels too over-the-top to maintain any suspension of disbelief, and the dramatic beats don’t hit hard enough to justify the film’s intensity. For him, the movie’s blend of tones—crime thriller, family drama, vigilante action flick—never fully gels.

The Ejiofor Effect

But there is one thing we absolutely agree on: Chiwetel Ejiofor is phenomenal.

Every scene he appears in gets an instant bump in tension, charisma, and credibility. His grounded menace feels like it wandered in from a more serious film, in the best possible way. He elevates the entire story and gives the movie a villain it genuinely needed.

Four Brothers | A Gritty Throwback or a Chaotic Mash-Up?

At the end of the day, Four Brothers sits in that interesting place between gritty throwback and chaotic tone experiment. There’s plenty to appreciate, especially if you lived through or loved that era of action movies, but there’s just as much to critique.