Singleton's 'Brothers' celebrates gang-style violence and yet ...

John Singleton has had quite a fall from grace since his 1991 debut film, "Boyz N the Hood," made him the youngest-ever -- and first African American -- to be Oscar-nominated for best director. His films since then have been ever more pandering, exploitative and sleazy.

MOVIE REVIEW

FOUR BROTHERS

DIRECTOR: John Singleton

CAST: Mark Wahlberg, Tyrese Gibson, Garrett Hedlund, André Benjamin, Terrence Howard,

Josh Charles

RUNNING TIME: 103 minutes

RATING: R for strong violence, pervasive language and some sexual content

GRADE: C+

LINKS/TRAILERS
· Official site

PHOTO GALLERY

View all photos

With his new film, "Four Brothers," he's come full circle. Like "Boyz," it profiles a young generation of a devastated inner-city neighborhood, but this time he's joined the forces of destruction. The movie is a gleeful celebration of gang-style violence.

It's also a more than competent testosterone-generator. Despite its basic stupidity, it's the most compelling and audience-pleasing of Singleton's sell-out movies -- "Rosewood," "2 Fast, 2 Furious," "Shaft" -- and the first that could actually be a hit.

As its title implies, the premise deals with four brothers -- two white (Mark Wahlberg and Garrett Hedlund), two black (Tyrese Gibson and André Benjamin) -- each adopted years ago by a saintly Detroit woman (Fionnula Flanagan).

When Mom is killed in a convenience store hold-up, the now-grown, long-separated bros reunite at the funeral, and stay together to re-bond, yuk it up and go after the killers in a vendetta that turns the wintry streets of Motown into World War III.

The movie is ludicrously plotted, impossibly convoluted and socially irresponsible in the way it pays unblinking tribute to gang values and has the vigilante brothers merrily commit first-degree murder like postmen delivering the mail.

While the 23-year-old Singleton of "Boyz" had a profound vision of where the code of violence was carrying America, his movies have subsequently abandoned that vision to the point where the 37-year-old Singleton is now telling us that the gang is our ONLY means of personal survival.

On the other hand, the movie is so light-headed that no one is likely to take this cynical message seriously. It's also quite funny in places, it makes especially good use of its bleak Detroit locations and it offers a handful of heart-pounding action sequences.

The casting is hit-and-miss. OutKast's Benjamin and "Troy's" Hedlund are weak, but Gibson is very appealing and the movie powers along on a strong lead performance by Wahlberg, who has never seemed more confident, commanding or scruffily charismatic.

Unlike "Rosewood" and some of Singleton's other films, this one has no trace of reverse racism. The actors never make it hugely convincing, but the script totally accepts the idea of interracial brotherhood, and the movie is a strange vision of racial harmony.