For most of its length a good ol'-fashioned gangster film, this gets really silly towards the end, spoiling the tough-nut feel of earlier reels.

The brothers of the title are two white guys and two black (Mark Wahlberg, Garrett Hedlund, Tyrese Gibson, Andre Benjamin), reunited by the death of their adoptive mother (Fionnula Flanagan), gunned down in a store hold-up.

When it becomes apparent that Mom was actually the target of a hit (we never quite learn why), the brothers grimly set out for revenge.

There's an excellent shoot-out scene as our heroes are surrounded by hit-men, but Britain's Chiwetel Ejiofor wastes his talents as the villain, and the director tosses away his good work in the first hour with a ridiculous ice-bound climax that defies all logic.