Awesome Movie

A Brilliant Conflict

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

This was okay as far as action movies go, its the cast that really makes it worth a watch. Some surprising faces here you wouldn't expect to see in a movie about meth dealers, really giving their all to the roles including James F-bombin Franco as the films villain, -he is excellent, Winona Ryder as a biker chick, also great and a scary skinny Kate Bosworth as a tweaked out mother who puts this whole story in motion. She is a piece of work in this, instantly hateable.The screenplay was written by Sylvester Stallone (based on a book) and was apparently going to be a vehicle for the Rambo franchise, which makes so much sense once you start watching this. Story goes that Stallone got too old for the role and passed it over to Statham.He plays a former DEA agent who takes his daughter Kit to the quiet town where his (now deceased) wife grew up to start over again after his latest (undercover) drug bust goes very wrong. He soon gets on the wrong side of the local meth drug-lord who in turn sells out his identity to a biker gang. Everyone comes after him, so that we get a couple of big action showdowns one with Frank Grillo and the other with F'n James Franco (His character swears a ton in this) This movie was definitely entertaining, thrilling at times but honestly nothing all that special or remarkable in that respect or in terms of story either. Jason Statham is continuing to change as a an actor taking on more human roles, he is believable here as the doting dad even if you have to ignore his British accent that creeps in from time to time and his action/fight scenes are as always exciting. 4/26/16

I think the main reason I wanted to see this average sounding film was because the amount of good people in the cast, I had my expectations about what it may be like, produced by Sylvester Stallone, directed by Gary Fleder (Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead, Kiss the Girls, Don't Say a Word, Runaway Jury). Basically former DEA agent Phil Broker (Jason Statham) had his cover blown two years ago during the raid of a gang's meth lab, he and his daughter Maddy (Izabela Vidovic) moved to the small Louisiana town where Maddy's deceased mother grew up. Maddy gets into a schoolyard fight with bully Teddy Klum (Austin Craig), there Broker meets Teddy's hostile father Jimmy (Marcus Hester), they fight and Jimmy loses. Cassie Bodine Klum (Superman Returns' Kate Bosworth) later asks her drug dealer brother Morgan 'Gator' Bodine (James Franco) to scare Broker, he is threatened by Gator's thugs at a gas station, but fights them off. While Broker and his daughter are horseback riding, Gator breaks into their house and discovers that Broker was an undercover cop in the raid two years earlier, Danny T (Chuck Zito) was arrested, hoping to increase his distribution of drugs Gator tips off Danny T so he can find Broker and kill him. Broker finds Gator's meth lab and sabotages it, he is captured and tortured by the same gang from earlier, but again manages to fight them off and escape, they later return, he kills most of the gang members, but Maddy is kidnapped, but not before she makes a call. Broker deduces from her call that she has been taken to Gator's meth lab, which Cassie unintentionally causes to be destroyed, after setting off a booby trap set up by Broker, Gator watches his business go up in flames, and whilst fleeing with Maddy accidentally shoots Cassie. A chase ensues until Gator is stuck on a bridge closed off, Broker fights Gator until he is beaten badly, he stops himself from killing the drug dealer as his daughter is watching, in the end Gator is arrested, Broker visits Danny T in prison and lets him know he will be around when he is eventually released. Also starring Winona Ryder as Sheryl Marie Mott, Frank Grillo as Cyrus Hanks, Rachelle Lefevre as Susan Hetch, Clancy Brown as Sheriff Keith Rodrigue, Omar Benson Miller as Teedo, Christa Campbell as Lydia and Pruitt Taylor Vince as Werks. Statham is fairly the same as his previous British hard man characters, maybe with some small tender moments, Franco is alright a the bad guy, and Ryder and Bosworth I agree with critics are inconsistent, to be honest I drifted many times throughout, perhaps because it's rather predictable, the whole former federal agent against drug dealers thing I've seen a few times before, only some fight and chase scenes picked it up slightly, overall it's a very average action crime thriller. Okay, in my opinion!

OK, there are one or two clichés which the excellent talents of Jason Stratham manage to mask, and it is a very gung-ho sort of movie. But then, you know what you are going to get in a Jason Stratham film.....I'd rate this higher if it wasn't for the terrible editing of the action scenes. Too much watching MTV by the director, far too much unnecessary fast cutting. I had no idea what was going on in most of the action scenes. Mostly it was dark, everyone was wearing Redneck check, and there was no time to grasp what was supposed to be happening. And if you aren't watching how Stratham is taking down the bad guys, what's the point of watching this sort of movie? Bad call, Director, whoever you are. (I couldn't be arsed to find out, it was so uninspiring).We're in the last scenes of the movie atm as I write this, and the clichés are coming so thick and fast that I am losing the will to watch. Still, overall a movie worth a viewing when the wife and kids have gone to bed and settled down, and you can pour yourself a decent pint and put your feet up.

Homefront (2013): Dir: Gary Fleder / Cast: Jason Statham, James Franco, Winona Ryder, Kate Bosworth, Chuck Zito: Idiotic action thriller about what matters most either to the hero or to the locals. It stars Jason Statham as an undercover cop who uncover a meth operation and a shootout erupts that results in the death of the son of the guy he is taking down. Cut ahead a couple years and widowed Statham moves his young daughter to a small town where trouble begins when his daughter beats the tar out of the school bully. The parents of the bully confront Statham despite his willingness to make amends. This is standard issue crap that consists of numerous scenes of Statham beating locals like a pinata at a birthday party. When a motorcycle gang makes an attempt on him it becomes laughable as each moron meets a tragic encounter due to stupidity. Gary Fleder previous made Kiss the Girls and Runaway Jury. This is definitely not a step up. We have great talent doing formula garbage. Statham does combat. James Franco plays the bad ass villain out to scare Statham and predictably gets his ass handed to him. Winona Ryder plays Franco's stripper girlfriend who kidnaps Statham's daughter in a laughable sequence. Kate Bosworth had potential as the bully's mother on drugs who is Franco's sister. Unfortunately her screen time becomes distant as it drones on. Chuck Zito plays the gang leader in the film's opening when Statham is undercover. Its theme of bullying is a shield for the film's real deal, which is Statham doubling bad guys as punching bags and soccer balls. Score: 2 / 10