The Final Cut:  A Closer Look At Skeleton Key, Four Brothers

This week, The Final Cut takes a closer look at two of this weekends most anticipated releases, The Skeleton Key with Kate Hudson and Four Brothers with Mark Wahlberg.  Also out nationwide this Friday are Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo with Rob Schneider and Eddie Griffin, and The Great Raid with Benjamin Bratt and James Franco.  In limited release, look for Asylum, Pretty Persuasion, and Grizzly Man.  As always, if you’ve seen one of this weekends new releases, feel free to comment with your opinion.  See The Final Cut’s recommendations after the jump.

The Skeleton Key

Starring: Kate Hudson, John Hurt, Gena Rowlands, Peter Sarsgaard

Kate Hudson is Caroline, a live-in nurse hired to care for an elderly woman’s (Gena Rowlands) ailing husband (John Hurt) in their home, a foreboding and decrepit mansion in the Louisiana delta. Intrigued by the enigmatic couple, their mysterious and secretive ways and their rambling house, Caroline begins to explore the old mansion. Armed with a skeleton key that unlocks every door, she discovers a hidden attic room that holds a deadly and terrifying secret.

At first look, this film looks like it might be a great way to spend your 2 hours at the theater, but upon closer inspection of the review scene, it seems that it just might not be as great as it looks. Seeing the previews for it in the theater and on TV, it appears that it’s a horror film that would have you on edge and keep you jumping throughout the movie. However, from what I’ve read it seems like those who’ve seen the film think that the scares are few and far between, and that it moves a little too slow for one’s liking. I’ve heard that this movie has a great twist, but I’ve also heard that the ending is disappointing. I’m still curious as to how this film will play out, so while I won’t recommend everyone run to the theater Friday to catch it.

Four Brothers

Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Tyrese, André 3000, Garrett Hedlund

Short-tempered Bobby (Mark Wahlberg), struggling musician Jack (Garrett Hedlund), streetwise Angel (Tyrese Gibson), and hard-working Jeremiah (Andre Benjamin) are four guys who don’t appear to have much in common, in terms of either race or temperament. However, these men have one very important bond—all four were adopted and raised by the same woman (Fionnula Flanagan), and they all love her as a son, and respect one another as brothers. When their mother is killed during a robbery at a grocery store, the four brothers come together for the funeral, but when they don’t get straight answers about what happened to her, they begin looking into the crime themselves. The deeper they dig into the case, the more the brothers begin to suspect that the shooting wasn’t an accident, and that powerful and unexpected forces were involved.

This film, directed by John Singleton, will probably leave you very disappointed if you take it too seriously. It seems many critics are of the opinion that this film is a revenge fantasy and that a good majority of it is unrealistic. Now that I’ve got that out of the way, if you like action movies with gangsters in them, you’ll probably like this film. Those that did like it say it was a great popcorn movie and if your willing to overlook the far-fetched actions in the film, I’d imagine you could have quite a good time. With this film, it basically comes down to this- if you go to the movies to be entertained, check this movie out. If you go to see something that’s realistic and mirrors life, skip it and find something else. I may catch this movie sometime soon, but I think this weekend I’ll see The Skeleton Key.