Homefront

There have been a lot of movies recently that have been trying to recapture the simple, adrenaline-fueled formula of an 80s action film.  Of those recent attempts, Homefront is one of the better ones.  It's not all that special, mind you, but it's better made than the others.  It also includes some actors you don't expect to see in a movie like this, including James Franco, Kate Bosworth, and Winona Ryder.  And while I can't say any of those actors are having their talents tested with this material, at least they're not just cashing a paycheck.

Originally intended as a star vehicle for Sylvester Stallone (who wrote the script, and serves as the head producer here), Homefront now stars Jason Statham as Phil Broker, an ex-undercover cop who, after recently losing his wife to a disease, decides to move to a small town in Louisiana with his 10-year-old daughter, Maddy (bright young Izabela Vidovic).  Phil's only wish is for his daughter and him to live a quiet and peaceful life.  If so, he should have looked into another town.  Not only is the place crawling with hate-filled rednecks who hold big-time grudges, but the whole town is run by a slimy meth cooker named Gator (James Franco), who pretty much has the law in his back pocket.  The problems start when little Maddy stands up for herself, and knocks down a bully at the school playground.  The bully's mom (Kate Bosworth), who just happens to be Gator's sister, wants vengeance and turns to her brother, hoping that some of his men will stop by Phil's house and "scare him".

The scare tactics don't work on Phil, so Gator naturally has to up the ante.  Things get even worse when Gator's girlfriend, Sheryl (Winona Ryder), discovers that Phil used to be an undercover cop, and helped put away a big-time drug kingpin.  Sheryl arranges a visit with the kingpin in jail, who in turn sends out his men to stage a hit on Phil's home.  The armed goons show up, young Maddy's life is put in danger, and we get to see Statham do what he does best.  That's really the reason you go see a movie like this, and on that level, it works well enough.  It has enough fist fights, car chases, and exploding drug labs to keep his fans happy.  We also get a few moments where we get to see Statham's softer side, during the scenes he shares with his daughter.  I liked these moments, and young Izabela Vidovic is a talented child actress, who makes the most of what the movie asks her to do.

This is also a well-paced action film.  It moves along at a quick pace, but it never feels overly rushed, or shallower than it needs to be.  That doesn't mean that there's a subplot or two that the movie probably would have been better off without, though.  One such plot involves Phil striking up a potential relationship with a woman who works at Maddy's school (Rachelle Lefevre).  His daughter turns him on to the idea of getting closer to her, and for a little while it seems like there's going to be a nice little romantic subplot tossed in, only to have the movie completely forget about it, and never bring it up again.  I guess the filmmakers thought it would get in the way of the shootouts.  Still, I kind of like the idea of Statham having a romantic side.  Surely he can't be angry and glaring all the time, right?

Still, for what it attempts to do, Homefront is mostly a success.  It manages to create a small amount of tension, and I managed to get more involved than I thought I would.  The fact that it's being released on a holiday weekend up against big films like The Hunger Games and Frozen obviously means the studio doesn't have a lot of faith in it, and hopes it will disappear quickly.  While I wouldn't exactly call this a great movie, it does definitely deserve better treatment than that.

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