Starring: Jason Statham, James Franco, Winona Ryder, and Kate Bosworth
Jason Statham movies are always hit-or-miss for me. You certainly get good action sequences, but not much else. He's an action star, not an acclaimed actor. Recognizing this reality, I'm a little ambivalent about his latest thriller Homefront. He offers plenty of great fight sequences and amusing trash talking, but there's no depth to his character whatsoever. The sad thing is that Homefront otherwise had potential. His supporting cast members have the acting chops to elevate this flick and make it something beyond just a basic action thriller. They could have really made this something special.
When the DEA decides to raid a drug hideout, undercover agent Phil Broker (Statham) is forced to rat out notorious criminal Danny T (Chuck Zito). In the midst of a showdown with the police, Danny T's son is killed, and he blames Broker for this tragedy. To make matters worse, the young criminal's death could have been prevented if Broker's DEA colleagues had listened to him and opted not to take him down with 47 bullets. After the incident, Phil quits the DEA and moves to a small town in Louisiana with his daughter Maddy (Izabela Vidovik). There, things quickly get heated when Maddy defends herself on the playground when a bully tries to steal her hat. The boy's mother Cassie Bodine (Kate Bosworth) is irate and enlists the help of her meth dealer brother Gator (James Franco). From here, things quickly get ugly as Gator learns that Broker is a former narc and has history with Danny T, a man with whom he does have pending business.
Homefront is a basic thriller with all the typical stylistic flourishes and grit. It's certainly watchable and enjoyable (at times), but it's not a movie I would pay to see if I were you. Adapted from the novel of the same name by Chuck Logan, Homefront is a screenplay penned by the one and only Sylvester Stallone. With this in mind, the writing isn't particularly strong as Stallone’s effort results in a movie full of one-dimensional characters. There's no depth to the story either as it's tantamount to the same old type of action thriller we've seen a million times.
The acting isn't particularly noteworthy. As expected, Statham is good for action and not much else. To make matters worse, his supporting cast members don't do much to make this thriller something special. For his part as Gator, James Franco channels a bit of his performance as Alien earlier this year in Spring Breakers with a country twist. He's enjoyable, but he's not pushing himself to do anything fresh or original here. Lastly, Winona Ryder and Kate Bosworth don't bring much to the film. I'm sure they were hampered to some degree by the screenplay itself, but they give us a positively boring meth whore and addict respectively.
As I've said, Homefront is a watchable action thriller that could have been more. Runaway Jury director Gary Fleder has occasionally knocked it out of the park. With a talented cast (beyond Statham), I was hoping he would do the same here. As it stands, Homefront gets a 0.09% rating. Since we are celebrating Thanksgiving, have a Spiced Vermouth with this one.
