'Four' isn't about Marvel Comics' first family, but is instead a talking heads drama. A white teenager, convinced he's homosexual, arranges to meet an older black man (played by Wendell Pierce from 'The Wire') for sex. Meanwhile, the man's teenage daughter spends time with a well-muscled Latino lad who's trying to get inside her knickers. The story is pure human interest, a drama with a layer of sadness or hopelessness covering every character, to varying degrees. The acting gets a bit over-wrought at times, but I enjoyed this wordy film, which is also very much suited to the stage. The relatively short running time flew by.
6 Reviews
Pierce Anchors an Intimate Film About Sexual Connections and Confusion
EUyeshima29 April 2024
Directed by Joshua Sanchez from a play by Christopher Shinn, this 2012 indie drama runs a fleet 75 minutes but manages to pack in quite a bit in a film that covers one Fourth of July holiday in a nondescript town. The focus is on four desperate, lonely characters who pursue risky couplings with people they've never met before. June is a teen struggling with his sexual identity who escapes his family's holiday celebration to hook up with Joe, a closeted middle-aged African-American, married with a daughter Abigayle. At the same time, she meets Dexter, a streetwise half-Latino still holding onto past basketball dreams. Both couples connect but not without a great deal of trepidation and some theatrical contrivances. The performances compensate. Aja Naomi King brings pensive intensity to Abigayle, while E. J. Bonilla adds dimension to Dexter's cocky bravado. Emory Cohen brings the requisite angst to June, and in a surprising brave turn, Wendell Pierce brings his own gravitas to a conflicted character encouraging a teen's sexual liberation while unwilling to expose his own closeted hypocrisy to his family.
BOSTON IS SUCH A WHITE CITY
nogodnomasters16 July 2018
Warning: Spoilers
The story takes place on the fourth of July and centers on the lives of four people. Four is also the number used to establish a foundation. We see people who are trapped by their lives on a day they celebrate freedom. Joe (Wendell Pierce) a chicken hawk, meets June (Emory Cohen) on line. June is a quiet confused young man who feels trapped by his homosexuality. Joe is a family man who can not come out either. His wife has a "disease" which we guess is HIV she got from Joe. Abigayle (sic) is Joe's daughter who cares for her mother while dad claims he is Boston. Young Dexter is mixed White and Hispanic. He convinces Abigayle to come out and see him. He played basketball as a youth and it appears his best days are behind him.
Even understanding the symbolism/metaphor the film sets up, I still didn't enjoy it. An art/ concept film based on a play.
F-bomb. sex (mm, mf) no nudity
Even understanding the symbolism/metaphor the film sets up, I still didn't enjoy it. An art/ concept film based on a play.
F-bomb. sex (mm, mf) no nudity
Kind of shameful
swanagangenevee24 December 2021
Wendell Pierce is like a big whale seducing a young but willing little white guy. I mean the way he lusted after him when he took off his clothes and lay on the bed, was off putting. When he kept sweating this kid about not coming out to his parents, my brains screamed "Did you tell your wife and daughter?
The film was truly acted put quite well though.
The film was truly acted put quite well though.
A small-scale, quietly impressive film
roger-pettit120 October 2012
"Four", which I have just seen at the London Film Festival, is a very good film. It's a story about awkwardness, indecision and the search for love. It boasts excellent performances from the four leading actors and a very good screenplay and, at a mere 75 minutes or so, is a short film. Despite its relative brevity, it packs a powerful emotional punch and is a very impressive piece of film-making.
Set on 4 July (Independence Day in the United States), it features two seemingly mismatched couplings: Joe and June; and Dexter and Abigayle. Joe (Wendell Pierce) is a forty something black college professor who is married, but whose wife is ill and needs constant care and attention. Abigayle (Aja Naomi King) is his adolescent daughter. Joe has a seemingly settled home-life but is, in fact, secretly gay and uses the internet to try to meet other gay people. June (Emory Cohen) - an odd name for a boy: his parents named him thus because he was supposed to have been born in that month but he was a premature baby and his birthday is actually in April - is a white 15- year old and is trying to come to terms with the fact that he is gay. But he is a very self- conscious, awkward, occasionally taciturn teenager who is finding it difficult to come out to friends and family. Joe and June meet via the internet and are having their first "date" together. Whereas June is shy and introspective, Dexter (E J Bonilla) is almost the complete opposite. He is brash, confident and extrovert. He loves playing basketball and has dropped out of school. Dexter is going out with Abigayle, although their relationship is clearly fragile. Abigayle challenges what she sees as his idiotic chat-up lines and his general cockiness. While her father is meeting June (unbeknown to her, of course), she agrees to meet Dexter for a short time. She is supposed to stay at home to look after her mother and because she is expecting a phone call from her father who she believes is on a work-related visit to Boston. In fact, their date appears to last for the whole evening, and in the course of it Abigayle unexpectedly sees Joe in his car with June (although Joe is unaware that his cover has been blown).
"Four" very skilfully portrays the search for love and for happiness that, in their own different way, each of the four principal characters is undertaking (as, indeed, we all constantly are, of course). That search is an emotional minefield with confusion, an inability to communicate, self-loathing and an arrogance that conceals vulnerability and timidity all on display to some extent. This is a very well-acted and -directed film that says much in its 75 minutes. It is also intelligent, thoughtful and heartbreaking. I suspect that "Four" will not hit the headlines or cause much of a stir. But in its understated way, it is a devastatingly effective film and one that will linger long in the memory of anyone who sees it. Highly recommended. 8/10.
Set on 4 July (Independence Day in the United States), it features two seemingly mismatched couplings: Joe and June; and Dexter and Abigayle. Joe (Wendell Pierce) is a forty something black college professor who is married, but whose wife is ill and needs constant care and attention. Abigayle (Aja Naomi King) is his adolescent daughter. Joe has a seemingly settled home-life but is, in fact, secretly gay and uses the internet to try to meet other gay people. June (Emory Cohen) - an odd name for a boy: his parents named him thus because he was supposed to have been born in that month but he was a premature baby and his birthday is actually in April - is a white 15- year old and is trying to come to terms with the fact that he is gay. But he is a very self- conscious, awkward, occasionally taciturn teenager who is finding it difficult to come out to friends and family. Joe and June meet via the internet and are having their first "date" together. Whereas June is shy and introspective, Dexter (E J Bonilla) is almost the complete opposite. He is brash, confident and extrovert. He loves playing basketball and has dropped out of school. Dexter is going out with Abigayle, although their relationship is clearly fragile. Abigayle challenges what she sees as his idiotic chat-up lines and his general cockiness. While her father is meeting June (unbeknown to her, of course), she agrees to meet Dexter for a short time. She is supposed to stay at home to look after her mother and because she is expecting a phone call from her father who she believes is on a work-related visit to Boston. In fact, their date appears to last for the whole evening, and in the course of it Abigayle unexpectedly sees Joe in his car with June (although Joe is unaware that his cover has been blown).
"Four" very skilfully portrays the search for love and for happiness that, in their own different way, each of the four principal characters is undertaking (as, indeed, we all constantly are, of course). That search is an emotional minefield with confusion, an inability to communicate, self-loathing and an arrogance that conceals vulnerability and timidity all on display to some extent. This is a very well-acted and -directed film that says much in its 75 minutes. It is also intelligent, thoughtful and heartbreaking. I suspect that "Four" will not hit the headlines or cause much of a stir. But in its understated way, it is a devastatingly effective film and one that will linger long in the memory of anyone who sees it. Highly recommended. 8/10.
A look into 4 minds on 1 evening
cekadah24 February 2016
This movie is one you cannot stop watching! Four people - three males one female - on one July 4th evening. Joe - a middle aged successful college professor who puts on a cheerful front but inside he is torn apart. June - a teenage boy confused and seeking to find himself and realizing the fear it brings. Abigayle - the daughter of Joe, she is beautiful, intelligent, responsible, but she is seeking to fulfill her physical desires without betraying herself. Dexter - he is young, very attractive (and he knows it), overly confident, a dropout, and he only wants what he can from Abigayle.
Director: Joshua Sanchez weaves this 4th of July story together in such a way you easily become emotionally involved with each one. There is tension and suspense. You will be wondering is there danger for June. Will Abigayle be a victim. Why is Joe, who seems so pleasant and with so much to loose, doing what he's doing. And Dexter he's the wild card because he seems tender but volatile.
At movies end Joshua Sanchez leaves the book open on each character. What's to happen with Abigalye and her discovery. Who did June call with the cell phone - was it Todd - I got that impression. Dexter gets what he wants but will Abigalye drop him. And Joe, I felt sorry for him, he will eventually have to face up to his family but he hasn't realized it yet.
If you care for movies about the human condition of just living and needing and how some seek to satisfy this need then FOUR is the film for you. It's a wonderful achievement in acting, direction, plot, etc.
Director: Joshua Sanchez weaves this 4th of July story together in such a way you easily become emotionally involved with each one. There is tension and suspense. You will be wondering is there danger for June. Will Abigayle be a victim. Why is Joe, who seems so pleasant and with so much to loose, doing what he's doing. And Dexter he's the wild card because he seems tender but volatile.
At movies end Joshua Sanchez leaves the book open on each character. What's to happen with Abigalye and her discovery. Who did June call with the cell phone - was it Todd - I got that impression. Dexter gets what he wants but will Abigalye drop him. And Joe, I felt sorry for him, he will eventually have to face up to his family but he hasn't realized it yet.
If you care for movies about the human condition of just living and needing and how some seek to satisfy this need then FOUR is the film for you. It's a wonderful achievement in acting, direction, plot, etc.
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