Review of "Homefront"

Spoiler Alert!

Agent Phil Broker (Jason Statham) is doing his best. Retired from the Drug Enforcement Agency after a shootout out with meth bikers (that’s meth making bikers, not bikers riding massive crystals) he and his daughter try to settle down in rural banjo territory. He befriends the only black man in the entire state and together they work as carpenters. This somehow pays for a mansion, a large estate, stables and two horses. Seriously, a carpenter hasn’t done this well since Jesus. Then it all kicks off in a school playground. Follow me with this; his ninja daughter beats up a bully, the bullies’ dad has a go at Statham and gets floored. Mother of said bully now gets her meth making brother to come and scare our hero. The brother finds out the guy is DEA, calls baddies to come kill him, gets in over his head and pew pew pew ‘Murica.

 

The Senators from Louisiana have complained about my use of Southern stereotypes in this review.

This film promised to be safe. The fricking poster shows Statham standing in front of a US flag while wearing a denim jacket and baseball cap. Rednecks were going to die and Statham was going to kill everything with sideburns without anyone questioning his accent. Boom! Film done. And it does this – just about. “Homefront” has a great ending with a siege style shoot out that leads to a car chase. But that’s about all of the major action. We are treated to a couple of fisticuffs with random groups of rednecks but for the most part “Homefront” builds on tension caused by a simple school ground fight. The screenplay was written by Sylvester Stallone for God’s sake!  Where are my explosions?

"I'm going to stand here for an hour until the plot happens"

Best bit? Has to be the end shoot out. It’s kind of the reason you go to see a film like this. A group of well-armed biker assassins take on an ex DEA commando. The actions manages to be a great mix of thrilling as a well as gritty. Hard camera angles and a night time setting could lead you to believe that this was all orchestrated by poor directing. However, “Homefront” resolutely sticks to its own grim pulse and for what is essentially a movie from the 80’s action genre, this lends a certain realism to the finale. Great stuff but it talks a long time to get there.

"Any minute now..."

Jason Statham plays Jason Statham very well. He should be commended for his performance of Jason Statham. I don’t think anyone else could have done it. James Franco has the best bad guy name for a redneck - Gator Bodine. I’m not used to seeing Franco in such a gritty role and while he nails the performance I can’t help but feel a little cheated. The story takes time to get going and after a fantastic set up, Franco’s character doesn’t really develop further. This is a tragedy because he is by far the most interesting character!

James Franco. Works 60% of the time. Everytime

Special mention must go to Winona Ryder and Kate Bosworth. Ryder plays Bodine’s fellow meth buddy and offers him a link to the nasty biker gang previously mentioned. What is so impressive about her performance is the way she connives the loss of control suffered by the hillbilly duo. The hells angel assassins are from a higher league of scum and Ryder slides from cool conniver to junky wreck. Marvelous stuff. Bosworth plays Cassie Bodine and just comes in under Franco due to less screen time. Bosworth is a meth using mother who starts the whole ball rolling after her son gets beat up by a girl at school. Let me just say this – Bosworth is terrifying. I kept expecting her to transform into Darth Vader or Hitler. She never steps out of the bounds of wronged mother but you could expect her to at any time. She and Ryder both need one more accolade – they look like meth heads. No kidding! Both have lost a lot of weight (especially in the face) for the roles and look terrible. Are they method actors? I Hope not.

Random fact - Ryder will be in Beetlejuice 2 next year

“Homefront” is a bit of fun and essential to add to your Jason Statham collection if you have one. If you don’t then don’t bother. It’s not fantastic. Some cool fighting and great acting but not enough to make this necessary viewing. Frankly, for nearly an hour and forty minutes long I need a few more explosions.

“Homefront” scores two Brian faces out of five.