Homefront Review

Rated R (Strong Violence, Pervasive Language, Drug Content and Brief Sexuality)

Running Time: 1 Hour & 40 Minutes

Cast-

Jason Statham-Phil Broker

Izabela Vidovic-Maddy Broker

James Franco-Morgan 'Gator' Bodine

Winona Ryder-Sheryl Marie Mott

Kate Bosworth-Cassie Bodine-Klum

Marcus Hester-Jimmy Klum

Rachelle Lefevre-Susan Hetch

Omar Benson Miller-Tito

Frank Grillo-Cyrus Hanks

Clancy Brown-Sheriff Keith Rodrigue

Chuck Zito-Danny Turrie

Linds Edwards-Jojo Turrie

Austin Craig-Teddy Klum

Directed by Gary Fleder

Jason Statham: ass-kicker and loving father.

Note: Screened on Thursday, November 14, 2013 at AMC Empire 25.

If you were to ask a hardcore gun-lover why people would need or want so many guns in their house, one answer that you'll inevitably get is 'self-defense.' Gary Fleder's latest film "Homefront" seems to be tailor-made for ardent supporters of the Second Amendment. Just look at the official poster. Hugging his young daughter, Jason Statham's Phil Broker is draped with a fading image of the American flag while the tagline reads, 'How far would you go to protect your home?' On the bottom is a menacing James Franco, wreathed in flames as if he were the Devil incarnate. It all comes across like a cheesy ad campaign put together by the National Rifle Association, except Franco's face would be replaced with a random foreigner from some third-world country. Although it shares the same title with THQ and Kaos Studios' 2011 video game, "Homefront" is actually based on Chuck Logan's 2005 best-selling novel. Adapting it for the big screen is none other than Sylvester Stallone, who had intended to direct and star in it himself when he wrote the script nearly eight years ago but his busy schedule led him to pass on the role to his co-star Jason Statham while on the set of "The Expendables 2." Statham's character Phil Broker is similar to Tom Cruise's Jack Reacher in some respects, considering that both are former lawmen and star in their own series of novels. Ironically, Broker and Reacher made their debut in the same year, 1997. The film should please action junkies but despite the source material's pedigree, "Homefront" proves to be indistinguishable from past Jason Statham vehicles.

Former undercover DEA agent and recent widower Phil Broker (Jason Statham) decides to retire to the seemingly idyllic bayou town of Rayville, Louisiana with his ten-year-old daughter Maddy (Izabela Vidovic) in an attempt to escape his troubled past. When a schoolyard bully named Teddy (Austin Craig) pushes Maddy around, she defends herself and leaves the boy with a bloodied nose. This earns the ire of Teddy's parents, meth addict Cassie (Kate Bosworth) and her husband Jimmy Klum (Marcus Hester). To even the score, Cassie asks her brother Gator Bodine (James Franco), the local drug lord, to humiliate Maddy's father but this plan backfires when Phil makes short work of Gator's thugs when they accost him at the gas station. Frustrated by this turn of events, Gator breaks into Phil's home while he and his daughter are away and discovers that not only was Phil a DEA agent but his actions led to the death of Jojo (Linds Edwards), who was a member of a notorious motorcycle gang called the 'Outcasts.' The leader of this gang happens to be Jojo's father Danny Turrie, (Chuck Zito), who now resides in prison because of Phil. Viewing this as a golden opportunity to obtain distribution rights for his growing meth operation, Gator has his girlfriend, Sheryl Mott (Winona Ryder), alert a still-vengeful Danny of Phil's whereabouts. As the Outcasts, led by the sadistic Cyrus (Frank Grillo), descend upon his home, Phil is forced to fight back in order to protect his daughter.

Not a year goes by where a Jason Statham film isn't playing in theaters. 2013 saw the release of two already—Taylor Hackford's "Parker," which received mixed reviews (41% on Rotten Tomatoes) and flopped at the domestic box office with a paltry $17.6 million, and the little-seen "Redemption" from British writer/director Steven Knight. Titled "Hummingbird" in the UK, Knight's film was met with a mixed reception (48% on Rotten Tomatoes) as well and played in only nineteen theaters while being made simultaneously available on VOD. Let's not also forget that Statham had a surprise cameo in a mid-end credits scene in "Fast and Furious 6," setting him up as the main villain in the upcoming seventh installment. The B-movie action star certainly isn't lacking in work but Gary Fleder's "Homefront" is just more of the same, with Sylvester Stallone's script spinning its wheels for close to an hour before our bald-headed protagonist starts indulging in some serious ass-kicking. Of course, this doesn't mean that there aren't any fisticuffs being thrown throughout the film but Statham's character Phil Broker tends to avoid confrontation while caring for his precocious ten-year-old daughter Maddy. The story makes a big deal out of Broker's 'mysterious past,' giving the film a neo-western vibe, except it isn't so mysterious when a brief prologue already reveals him to be a former DEA agent who went undercover within a motorcycle gang that was involved in drug-trafficking. Broker's actions lead to the arrest of the gang's leader, Danny Turrie. However, his son Jojo defiantly resisted arrest, resulting in him being shot 47 times. It's obvious that the ex-lawman's past will catch up with him sooner or later but if you didn't know, Danny helpfully foreshadows it all for us with his screams of promised vengeance.

The film's predictability is only equaled by its dumbness. When Broker goes horseback riding with Maddy, he leaves his house unlocked, allowing Gator to leisurely stroll in and snoop around. Coincidentally, Broker's cluttered basement just happens to contain boxes of sensitive files revealing his past life as a DEA agent but what really takes the cake is that Gator manages to directly grab the one file that exposes the ex-lawman's involvement in the death of Danny Turrie's son. Broker later returns the favor by breaking into Gator's garage or more accurately, waltzes through the front door, leaving you to wonder if the good citizens of Rayville invest in locks or alarms for their homes. The man even has time to booby-trap the whole place! "Homefront" does try to create some sort of emotional resonance by casting Broker as a recent widower (in the novel, his wife, an elite Delta Force operative, is alive but suffering from severe posttraumatic stress disorder) but these moments are marred by Mark Isham's overwrought score. The film only comes alive once the ass-kicking starts, with the sound effects cranked all the way up to twenty so you can feel every punch connect. Unfortunately, you'll likely have lost interest by then due to the meandering story as it lamely attempts to build suspense. There's nothing particularly distinctive about Fleder's direction either, besides indulging in a little too much shaky cam during the fight scenes.

Jason Statham is…well, Jason Statham. While the actor does get to exhibit more depth and vulnerability as a single father, the character of Phil Broker isn't too far off from the other 'tough guy' roles that Statham has played. He's still excellent as always when going mano-a-mano but its nothing we haven't seen countless times before. As Broker's young daughter Maddy, newcomer Izabela Vidovic tends to try too hard, especially when the scene calls for emotion. I suppose I should cut her some slack though considering Vidovic is still a child and she does share a good rapport with Statham. The film's biggest surprise is James Franco, who appears to have cornered the market of playing off-kilter individuals. Gator isn't as memorable as Alien from "Spring Breakers" but Franco is suitably creepy in the role. There's a moment near the end where he stares at Sheryl in shock and bluntly asks her, 'Are you retarded?!' The way he delivers this line is just absolute perfection and it left the audience laughing in their seats. Winona Ryder is fine (and still gorgeous) as Gator's jittery lover/accomplice while Kate Bosworth appears to have taken a page out of Christian Bale's playbook with her shockingly skinny frame. I didn't even recognize her at first! Rachelle Lefevre pops in briefly as a potential love interest along with Omar Benson Miller, who plays Broker's only friend in town and is fond of saying 'fu*kin' rednecks.' Rounding out the cast is Frank Grillo as a hitman hell-bent on killing Broker and Clancy Brown as the sheriff, of course.

There are currently no reviews for "Homefront" since it won't be released until November 27, 2013 but it'll likely fall into the 40 to 50% range on Rotten Tomatoes, in line with recent Jason Statham flicks. What's puzzling is the film's production budget, which is estimated to be around $70 million. That's unusually high for this type of picture and what's worse is that it has absolutely no chance of making that back due to intense competition from other films such as "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" and Disney's "Frozen." At best, "Homefront" is looking at a $25 to $30 million gross, if it doesn't bomb like Statham's last two solo outings. Jason Statham continues to do what he does best but "Homefront" is just another throwaway B-movie action thriller in the actor's résumé. Apparently, he's set to co-star alongside Melissa McCarthy in Paul Feig's upcoming spy comedy "Susan Cooper." Now that should be interesting!

Final Rating: 2.5 out of 5

"Whatever you're thinking…rethink it."