HOMEFRONT

2013 / Director. Gary Fleder.
Review by Glenn Cochrane.

There's no mucking around with HOMEFRONT. It's a balls-to-the-wall action movie that draws a lot of influence from the 80s. Jason Statham plays a retired DEA agent who moves with his daughter to a small town in Louisiana. It isn't long before he butts heads with local rednecks and finds himself an outcast and target of local thugs. When his true identity is revealed word spreads as far as the city where a bikie gang has a score to settle with him. HOMEFRONT is built upon a strong and true formula and there are no new tricks here. What anchors the story is a strong cast, solid script and qualified directing. Jason Statham does Jason Statham (who are we kidding? He's awesome) and he's supported by great performances from James Franco, Kate Bosworth and Winona Ryder (Franco is brilliant as the local meth dealer). The script was written by Sylvester Stallone, who is no stranger to writing, and it doesn't falter. In fact there are a lot of similarities to Stallone's FIRST BLOOD. It's a story dealing with an outsider unwillingly making enemies in a small town and it plays out in a gritty and unapologetic way. Stallone adapted the script from a novel and over the last few years I've heard various stories that he's been throwing around for a potential fifth RAMBO movie... I am pretty certain this story was one of them. There is no doubt that he had Rambo in mind when writing this and I'm tempted to call it a thematic companion movie to FIRST BLOOD. The story moves along tightly and flows well. There are no boring lulls in the script and every frame is used with purpose. The film flew under a lot of radars and few knew about it until it's DVD release... and many still aren't aware of it. It's a sleeper that it eagerly awaiting it's audience and a sequel has already been suggested. Stacks of fun! 

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