HOMEFRONT (2013) – The Review

So, we’re well past Summer and you action fans will have to wait many months before you can get your high-octane testosterone film fix. Nothin’ but serious, Oscar-bait prestige cinema out there, eh? Not quite! Thanks to an unlikely union of two action icons, you can snap that wishbone and then head to the multiplex for a whole lot more bone-snapin’ fun. That “Transporter” titan Jason Statham is zooming through those high-brow films this “turkey day” weekend. And he’s doing his thing right here in the US of A (or as he might refer to it “the colonies”). So, who’s that other icon? None other than his EXPENDABLES partner, Sylvester Stallone. According to reports, Sly had adapted the script as a starring vehicle for himself several years ago, but never got around to it. So, now it’s been dusted off, updated, and fashioned for the glowering Brit. Let’s see how Jason fares when faced with some Bayou-bred badguys as he defends the HOMEFRONT.

The film begins three years ago as undercover DEA man Phil Broker (Statham) takes down a drug-dealing biker gang led by “Danny T” (Chuck Zito). Flash forward to today as newly widowed Broker has retired from the force and has moved with his grade school-aged daughter Maddy (Izabela Vidovic) to his late wife’s bucolic Louisiana hometown. One day Maddy uses the self-defense methods learned from Daddy to take down a bully at the school playground. When Phil is called into the school, the bully’s mother Cassie (Kate Bosworth) harasses him and goads her hubby into trying to “sucker punch” Phil (much to the hubby’s humiliation). This sends Cassie to her Meth-dealing brother “Gator” Bodine (James Franco) and pleads with him to put a scare into the new town arrival. After two of his goons are pummeled by Phil, “Gator” breaks into the under-renovation Broker homestead and finds his old arrest files (including the big Danny T bust). This gives “Gator” an idea. He uses his old drug-dealer girlfriend Sheryl (Winona Ryder) to contact the still incarcerated Danny and give him the whereabouts of the man he has sworn to kill (and perhaps he’ll invite them into his even bigger drug ring). Soon Danny sends the remnants of his old biker gang lead by the vicious Cyrus (Frank Grillo) to the sleepy burg. Can Phil protect his little girl from this blood-thirsty pack of killers?

Well, as if! Statham is his usual glaring, cool, tightly wound hero who can unleash a flurry of blows while barely blinking. We wait in anticipation as he surveys the scene and mentally works out his moves as the thugs fail to intimidate him. He always gives the goons a chance to walk away, but do they listen? Unfortunately he’s not nearly as compelling when Broker attempts to bond with his daughter (“I miss Mommy too”) or cracks wise with his house-fixin’ pal. It’s just long intervals waiting for him to do his thing. Happily those intervals are broken up by Franco’s goofy,loopy take on a B-movie kingpin (is he checking off from a to-do list? “co-star in superhero franchise, check!” “star in classic kid flick, check!” and so on) as the wonderfully named “Gator” (“let’s combine the title of a 70’s Burt Reynolds classic with the last name of a TV hillbilly nitwit!”). His introductory scene as he gleefully pummels some teenage junkies with a baseball bat is inspired. For the rest of the film, Franco slinks about while squinting with oily menace. He seems to be enjoying his walk on the wild side, as do the actresses involved. Ryder exudes an earthy sensual vibe as Franco’s trashy bar maid/moll while Bosworth is a shrieking, motor-mouthed harpy as the angry, junky mother. The lovely Rachel Lefevre works well with Statham as a sympathetic school counselor (and potential love interest) but the character abruptly disappears before the last third of the flick. Grillo makes a convincing adversary while Clancy Brown is his usual engaging screen self as the town’s ineffectual sheriff.

Director Gary Fleder keeps the story moving forward and gives us a great view of the man-to-man matches while avoiding repetitive slow-motion and over-frenetic whiplash editing. In other words, we always know just what’s going on and who’s punching who. And the New Orleans scenery is pretty nice.Yeah, this is a goofball, grindhouse flick (and I think the producers know it) with an above average cast, but if you’re just looking to relax your brain after surviving the big family feast then HOMEFRONT may be just as tasty as Mom’s warm pumpkin pie (and a lot less fattening).

3.5 Out of 5