Chris Kavan's Movie Review of Homefront

Rating of
2.5/4

Homefront

Statham is a One Man War on Drugs
Chris Kavan - wrote on 03/04/14

I've learned one thing about watching the many films of Jason Statham - he pretty much plays the same character in every film. Whether he's an amped-up adrenaline junkie who has to get a rush to survive, a very "special" delivery man or a very (non) expendable member of a group of mercenaries - let's just say in pretty much every film - Statham's character is not someone you want to mess with.

Homefront - written and produced by action icon Sylvester Stallone - gives us yet another standard Statham character, but at least gives us a little bit more than "guy who punches and kicks other guys for whatever reason" for an hour and half. In this case Statham is an ex-agent, Phil Broker, who has recently lost his wife and thus leaves the deep undercover work behind to raise his young daughter in a bucolic backwater where his wife grew up. But any attempt to live a normal life quickly spirals out of control after a school-yard run-in with a bully puts him and his daughter in the cross-hairs of the Bodine family.

I have to say, I nearly didn't recognize Kate Bosworth as the meth-addicted mother of the bully who got beat up by a girl. It's true that without makeup (or makeup applied specifically to make you look like an addict) it can make a big difference. Needless to say, she feels slighted by this dustup and demands an apology - and when her husband steps in (and is put down immediately by Broker), she seeks out the help of her brother - local meth kingpin "Gator" Bodine. Aside from having the most awesome hillbilly/white trash/redneck name ever - Gator is played by James Franco - who, let's face it, looks like a 12-year-old next to Broker's no-attitude ex-agent. But he possess a sleazy, scummy and downright creepy quality here - he's not about direct confrontation, but rather intimidation through sneakier (and cheap) means - breaking and entering, slashing tires, cat-napping - he's a downright despicable person.

Then we have his ex-biker girlfriend - a surprising casting choice in the willowy Winona Ryder. After finding some damning evidence of Broker's history with a biker gang, he enlists her help in getting on the good side of the behind-bars Danny T - biker leader - whose son's death he blames on Broker - and who can finally plan his revenge. Our hero, meanwhile, is trying to keep his cool, but keeps having to break out his skills - much to the chagrin of local sheriff (an underutilized Clancy Brown). But the noose is closing in and soon enough he finds himself having to protect his home, and family, from his past that has quickly caught up with him - those looking for the Statham throw down will not be disappointed in the big final act.

Homefront wants to be more than a standard action movie - and it somewhat succeeds. The relationship between Broker and his daughter, Maddy (played by newcomer Izabela Vidovic) is actually quite well done - it's sweet and feels like an actual father/daughter connection. There is also an attempt to humanize the character by throwing in a possible love interest (played by Rachelle Lefevre) but it's a half-hearted endeavor at best - they could have done a much better job of working that angle to give the character more depth - I almost think the entire plot line could have been cut without sacrificing much. There are other attempts to give some character development, but for the most part, things are pretty cut-and-dry. But at a swift 100 minutes, you're not looking at getting really deep into the lives of these people.

In the end, Homeland may not make you rethink Statham as an actor - but at least it's one of the more interesting films in his career, if only because they give him a compelling reason to be kicking all these guys this time around.

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