Director: Gary Fleder.
Starring: Jason Statham, James Franco, Winona Ryder, Kate Bosworth, Clancy Brown, Rachelle Lefevre, Frank Grillo, Izabela Vidovic.
Running Time: 100 minutes.
Certificate: 15.
Synopsis: After a bust goes bad, Phil Broker (Jason Statham) an ex-DEA, relocates with his young daughter from the city to a backwater town in Louisiana. An incident in the schoolyard sees the Brokers get on the wrong side of the Bodine family. At the head of this family is Gator (James Franco), the local meth dealer.
Written by Sylvester Stallone, HOMEFRONT plunges us into the world of bad bikers and crystal meth. Thanks to television series Breaking Bad, the meth business is the new media drug of choice. This seedy underbelly is personified in HOMEFRONT via Gator, a backwater Hick who has a stockpile of drugs but no place to distribute it. When he uncovers information about Broker’s past, he finds his way to the big time via a biker crew that have an axe to grind.
Adjusting to a new town can be tough, and it turns out Broker isn’t very good at making friends. He manages to fight almost everyone he encounters in his new town and even stopping to refuel his truck ends in carnage. HOMEFRONT has all the action and violence you could want from a Statham movie, but more than that, it has heart. The relationship between Statham and his on-screen daughter is surprisingly touching, thanks to a well-rounded performance from the young star. Little kids in grown-up films can go one of two ways: they’re either really sickly sweet and irritating (see Newt in ALIENS), or wise beyond their years and cool (LOOPER’S Cid). Thankfully HOMEFRONT’s youngest cast member falls into the latter category and Maddy, played brilliantly by newcomer Izabela Vidovic, is one tough child who can more than hold her own.
The other females in the film suffer slightly, with school teacher and potential love interest, (played by Under The Dome’s Lefevre), appearing to be lost in the edit. One minute she’s helping organise and host a party for Maddy, but once the festivities are over she’s never seen again. Similarly, Bosworth’s Cassie – the reason for Gator and Broker crossing paths – disappears during the middle section and is seemingly replaced by Sheryl (Winona Ryder), an ex-flame of Gator who helps set up a distribution deal between the new allies.
Fans of the TRANSPORTER and EXPENDABLES star will be pleased to know that the last thirty or so minutes are one long gun siege that plays out over several locations – there is also a rare few shots towards the start of the movie in which Statham has a full head of hair and that may be worth the price of admission alone.
HOMEFRONT is released in UK cinemas on Friday 6th December.
