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Throughout November and December, Hollywood tends to focus on the year’s holiday hits and award contenders. But, every once in a while, the award season release schedule throws a curveball, and we’ll get something completely different—like Jason Statham’s latest crime thriller, Homefront.
Statham stars as Phil Broker, a former DEA agent who decides to settle down in small-town Louisiana with his daughter after his wife’s death. The two quickly discover that fitting in won’t be easy—and after Broker’s daughter gets into a fight with a bully at school, things go from bad to worse. The boy’s hot-headed mother (Kate Bosworth) gets involved, and she sends her trouble-making brother, Gator (James Franco), an aspiring drug lord, to take care of the situation. And when he digs up information about Broker’s past, things get deadly.
Don’t be fooled by the Thanksgiving weekend release date. Homefront is not Oscar bait. It’s also not a heartwarming, family-friendly holiday drama. In fact, it would have made a whole lot more sense if it had been released in February, when the competition isn’t as considerable and moviegoers aren’t especially selective. It’s The Transporter meets Deliverance—an over-the-top action movie that pits lovable tough guy Statham against a bunch of ruthless biker dudes, some dim-witted bullies, and a menacing but rather cowardly meth-cooking Franco. Right from the beginning, it’s pretty clear that no one really stands a chance against Broker (or his kid, for that matter), so there’s nothing particularly gripping or suspenseful about the action. It’s mostly just Broker beating up a whole lot of stupid and shamefully overconfident rednecks.
The characters, meanwhile, are about as stereotypical as they come. Statham is his usual tough guy with a heart of gold, while everyone else is some variation on the conniving half-wit. Granted, there’s something amusing about this cast of stoners and rednecks—but, unfortunately, they’re not really supposed to be amusing.
Somewhere in here, there’s a story—one based on an actual novel by author Chuck Logan and adapted by Sylvester Stallone. But it’s nothing that you haven’t seen before. It’s also nothing that you’ll really care about—and nothing that you’ll remember a few days after seeing it. In the end, though, it makes for a pretty good anti-bullying public service announcement. After all, according to this movie, picking on a little girl on the playground could possibly result in a bunch of angry bikers rolling in and shooting up your no-account little hick town.
Had it played up the obvious humor of its ridiculous characters and overplayed conflict, Homefront could have been an entertaining action-comedy. Instead, it’s a completely forgettable crime thriller—and an insult to meth cookers, the residents of Louisiana, and moviegoers in general.
Listen to the review on Reel Discovery:
