In the opening scenes of this violent, bloody movie, a white-haired grandmother enters a convenience store, where she admonishes a young man for shoplifting a piece of candy. She has been summoned there to do this by the man who runs the shop, who wishes to avoid involving the police. No sooner has the repentant kid run off than two masked thugs enter the store and blow away the proprietor and the helpful grandmother.

The woman turns out to be Evelyn Mercer, a worker responsible for placing kids in foster homes. Four of the children she placed, two white and two black, turned out to be so problematical that she adopted them herself. Now adults, all four arrive for Mom’s funeral, bonding for a memorial Thanksgiving dinner. But the oldest and the leader of this pack, Bobby (Mark Wahlberg), has revenge in mind, and begins an investigation that uncovers the truth behind his mother’s murder. It also turns into a course of action that gets about half of the cast, plus some extras, killed.

We have seen this basic plot of totally unrealistic carnage before, in The Sons of Katie Elder, but it played out a lot better in the Wild West of the past than it does in contemporary Detroit. Moreover, in the earlier film, one could root for John Wayne, an obvious might-makes-right leader. Wahlberg is no such thing here. Looking weary and worn, he has little charisma these days, and his acting chops have not been honed by roles in such wastelands as The Planet of the Apes remake. The villains, cops, and siblings in this movie are far more memorable and likable than he is, and the result is that Four Brothers doesn’t work.

One has to feel a bit for director John Singleton, who began his career with Boyz n the Hood, a masterpiece difficult to trump. Still, Singleton’s attention to gritty realism is excellent here, his observations of the characters, if not deep, are true to the nature of their surroundings, and the film features one of the most heart-stopping car chases since The Bourne Supremacy. The camerawork is attention-grabbing and the surround sound involves the viewer in the violent parts. But Four Brothers needs a hero, and Mark Wahlberg isn’t one.

• Go Back