Homefront keeps it fairly simple. A couple of years after an undercover bust goes wrong, DEA agent Frank Broker (Jason Statham) is laying low in a small Louisiana town, trying to raise his ten year old daughter Maddy (Izabela Vidovic). But one day his daughter gets into a fight with a schoolyard bully, drawing the ire of the bully’s parents. It turns out that those parents are connected to local meth kingpin Gator Bodine (James Franco), and they ask for his help to intimidate Broker. Gator soon discovers Broker’s past, and brings in some criminals looking for revenge.
And so the film becomes about this one tough guy taking on the criminal element of a backwater town. It’s a classic action movie setup that’s enhanced by the swampy flavor of the Louisiana setting. Unfortunately, Homefront isn’t actually very good when it comes to delivering action. The film ultimately squanders the elegance of its setup with jumpy, unappealing action sequences that don’t make very good use of its main actor’s talents.
What the film lacks in originality, it makes up for in detail. The most interesting parts of the movie detail the little empire that Gator has set up for himself. He is what passes for a criminal mastermind in this one-horse town, making deals with the police and exerting his control over the other dealers in the area. But he’s just a big fish in a small pond, and he seems keenly aware of this. The film breaks away from its generic nature by detailing a villain that seems to be more rounded than your average action movie baddie. He seems more practical, less prone to taking on things that are beyond his station.
James Franco pulls off a fairly mean trick in playing Gator. At first he seems woefully miscast, but it soon becomes clear that there’s something else going on. Franco leverages a weariness in the character, a palpable yearning to be someone else. He plays off well with Jason Statham, who never looks less than comfortable in any role he’s given. Statham is always solid in the action context, often delivering more charm than what’s actually written into the movie.
It’s a shame, then, that the movie is so badly directed. Its camera is terribly fidgety, and the editing makes everything a little hard to follow. Statham is one of the few stars that don’t have to hide behind camera tricks and visual effects. He brings ridiculous velocity to everything he does, making any action scene inherently better by his mere presence. The movie would have benefitted from a steadier hand, keeping the focus on the weight that Statham puts behind his punches, or the determination on his face as he mangles some random baddie.
Homefront had the makings of a fairly solid no-nonsense action movie. Sure, it still featured a half-baked romantic subplot and the occasional awkward bit of sentiment. But at its core, it’s just window-dressing to a solid core of classic setup and intriguing local detail. It just doesn’t work out that way, sadly. The film fails to deliver on its promise of action. The filmmakers pile on the worst impulses of recent action cinema, masking its appeal with an overly energetic camera. This could have been really fun, but the film doesn’t seem to know how to do that.
My Rating:
