Homefront
Not all films need to be completely original or unique to be entertaining. Using well-played motifs isn’t going to win anyone an oscar but that does prevent them from being enjoyable. Homefront is another retelling of the ages-old tale of a child who gets kidnapped and the father goes on a path of destruction to get his child back. Directed by the little known Gary Fleder, the film stars mega action star Jason Statham and the screenplay was written by Sylvester Stallone. James Franco also has a major role but we’ll get back to him more later. Those two names alone are enough to provide sufficient credibility.
The film takes place in rural Louisiana. Statham has lived a dangerous life as an undercover DEA agent. His wife recently passed away and he decides to settle down on a quiet piece of land with his daughter. Despite his best intentions, the small town isn’t used to strangers and he quickly attracts attention. Demons from his old life return and his daughter is taken and he won’t let anything stop him from getting her back.
The bayou setting fits the story well, but the film’s main failing is that it forgets what it is supposed to be. This is an action movie, and not a terribly long one at that running 100 minutes. The reality is that more movies would be better served by keeping closer to the 90 minute mark, but you have to be more focused. Undoubtedly anyone who goes to see Homefront is interested in Jason Statham going Rambo on people. The problem with Homefront, is that the first 80% of the film is extremely docile. I understand that you have to give some time to setup whatever is going to happen, but this was much more of a simmering fuse that explodes at the end rather than any sort of non-stop action.
Statham performs wonderfully during the fight scenes, but the lengthy introduction was not as kind to him. There was just too much time spent being emotional and let’s be honest: that’s not what he’s good at. Winona Ryder plays a sort of sidekick meth-whore and she strangely seems a fitting actress for the role but at the same time fails to give a meaningful performance.
Really, the best performance was by James Franco. Over the past several years he has a tendency to play roles that are too ‘goody two-shoes’ and he just doesn’t play that very well. Even roles where he’s the villain, like in the original Spiderman films, he still seems so unintelligent and fake. In Homefront he plays a small time (but ambitious) meth dealer who isn’t afraid of stirring up some trouble. Even though the film has other faults, it will turn anyone into a Franco believer.
