Arts & Culture Film Review: FOUR; Lust leads to ill-advised liaisons in day-in-the-life drama
September 19, 2013
By Kam Williams
LAWT Contributing Writer
It’s the Fourth of July in suburbia where we find 16 year-old Abigayle (Aja Naomi King) caring for her bedridden mother (Yolonda Ross) while her father Joe’s (Wendell Pierce) job has taken him out of town. Normally, Joe can trust his dutiful daughter to dote on her mom, but on this evening, for some reason, raging hormones have her hot and bothered to the point of distraction.
After a little phone sex, she invites a guy she met in the mall over for what he arrogantly expects to be a 15-minute booty call. Dexter (E.J. Bonilla) is a former, high school basketball star whose glory days ended abruptly when he graduated from high school.
He’s been in a drug-fueled, downward spiral ever since, and all that he has going for him is an ability to charm gullible young girls out of their pants. But when Abby has second thoughts about succumbing to Dexter’s powers of seduction so easily, she talks him into taking her out for a ride.
Meanwhile, her dad isn’t really away on business, but up to monkey business on the other side of town. Turns out Joe is secretly bisexual and has rendezvoused with a gay kid (Emory Cohen) he met online who is also in the closet but obviously inexperienced and needs to be shown the ropes.
Thus unfolds Four, a compelling character-driven drama about a very eventful day-in-the-lives of four lost souls each searching for a little independence on Independence Day. The movie marks the auspicious writing and directorial debut of recent Columbia Film School grad Joshua Sanchez.
A cautionary tale featuring spectacular Fourth of July fireworks of the emotional variety.
Very Good (3 stars)
Rated R for sexuality, profanity and brief drug use
Running time: 75 minutes
Distributor: 306 Releasing
To see a trailer for Four, visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybjnRE7VAfw