Starring: Jason Statham, James Franco, Winona Ryder, Kate Bosworth, Izabela Vidovic, Frank Grillo, Omar Benson Miller, Clancy Brown, Rachelle Lefevre, Chuck Zito
Written By: Sylvester Stallone
Directed By: Gary Fleder
I think sometimes we forget that Sylvester Stallone is a writer. He’s actually an Academy Award nominated screenwriter for his Rocky script. He’s never been able to live up to the hype of Rocky, though he’s not a bad action writer having written Cobra and The Expendables series, among other films. Homefront is probably among his better films.
And Gary Fleder isn’t a bad director either, most notably for Kiss The Girls, Don’t Say A Word, and Runaway Jury. That being said, I’m fully aware he also directed Impostor.
Jason Statham often gets stuck with terrible action movies like Safe. Safe was awful. Homefront is so much better. He actually gets to act a bit in this film. James Franco steals the show though. Franco is great as a villain. He rarely ever gets to play the villain, and he should so it more often. He rocks the southern accent, he has great outbursts, and he’s intelligent enough to create a dynamic villain.
Heck, even Kate Bosworth and Winona Ryder are pretty good.
I feel like I have to pump this film up a lot, because… it’s Homefront. It’s a Jason Statham film. It bombed at the box office. I liked it a lot better than I thought I was going to. I have to admit, I thought this movie was going to be awful. The plot is pretty generic. It’s the old “former undercover cop can’t escape his old life” trope that’s been played to death over the years. And, yeah, Statham still has his accent even though everyone else around him is deep south. So.. there’s that. Maybe Statham can’t act… but would you expect Vin Diesel to have a southern accent? Schwarzenegger? These guys have a distinct sound in their voice, and we kind of just shrug it off when they don’t do accents.
Franco makes this a great action film. I’d rather see Franco do this type of role a thousand times over than see another Pineapple Express, honestly. And who doesn’t like watching Statham kick a little ass?
It’s not 12 Years A Slave. It’s not on the same level. But as far as action films go, this is one of the better action films I’ve seen in a while. And it’s now on Netflix, so if you’ve got the instant streaming, you don’t even have to pay any more money to see it! It’s a win-win!
I think films like this come down to having a good cast, and a good director. Sure, Fleder has had a misfire, but this isn’t another. Homefront is worth taking a look.
FINAL GRADE: B
