‘Homefront’ plays better on home screens

Phil Broker (Jason Statham) is a former undercover DEA agent who gives up his badge and the lifestyles after his action against a biker gang went horribly wrong and it cost the life of his boss’ son. A recent widow who is left with a 9 year old daughter Maddy, Broker decides to retire to a small town to get away from everything. After his daughter fights off a boy who was bullying her at school, Broker finds himself caught as this sets in motion a round of events that end in his direct confrontation with the local Meth drug lord Gator (James Franco). Broker has a mission in his mind to protect his daughter and even with is past coming back to haunt him he remains determined to keep his daughter safe.

Written by Sylvester Stallone as a vehicle for himself, the film ended up staring his Expendables co-star when he decided he might not be the best fit for the role anymore. Homefront has some very solid action set pieces and features decent performances from its leads Statham and a kind of slumming Franco and packs the background with familiar faces. Kate Bosworth puts in some solid work as Gator’s sister; the mother of the bully Maddy defends herself against, as does Winona Ryder as a junkie/love interest that helps Gator. Clancy Brown, Omar Benson Miller, Frank Grillo and Rachelle Lefevre all show up in supporting turns as well.

The script is very basic and very devoid of surprises or character development, but that’s not really the point of the film. The action sequences are fast and furious and feature a very hard hitting style that suits Statham very well. Grillo is brought in to punch up the action and give Statham a worthy opponent as Franco lacks the fighting skills you would expect for a final blow out. Grillo is a bit of a rising star and his charisma, glimpsed briefly here, serves him well. The Blu-ray is devoid of a plethora of special features, only including some brief deleted scenes and behind the scenes footage.

Homefront is a decent action film that feels much more at home in the world of home entertainment than the big screen. Where the film lacks in plot and script it makes up for with some solid action pieces that bring the film together. Homefront is hardly a film you’ll need to rush out to get, but you could do worse looking for some mindless fun on a Saturday night at home.

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