By Jonathan Klotz
| Published
The typical Jason Statham movie features the real-life martial artist as an invincible tough guy who uses a roundhouse kick to solve all of his problems. That’s why the 2013 film Homefront sticks out in his filmography as being different; the pacing is slower, the characters are better developed, and not one roundhouse kick to the head is thrown. It all makes sense once you learn that the film, written by Statham’s The Expendables co-star Sylvester Stallone, was originally going to be Rambo 5.
The War Comes Home
Homefront puts Jason Statham in the boots of DEA Agent Phil Broker, who relocates to a small Louisiana town with his daughter Maddy following a successful raid on a meth lab. All it takes is one little fight at school between Broker and the father of one of Maddy’s bullies for everything to unravel because, of course, the bully’s mom (played by Kate Bosworth) is the sister of Gator Bodine (James Franco), the local crime boss. Gator sets his sights on Broker, touching off an escalating war between the two that, though there is action, is more tense than Statham’s usual B-movie fare.
For starters, James Franco does a fantastic job playing a skeezy slimeball, but Winona Ryder, as his girlfriend/lieutenant Sheryl, in what would be a thankless role in most of Statham’s other star vehicles as the secondary villain, gets to show off by breaking bad for one of the few times in her career. Even Jason Statham rises to the level of his co-stars in Homefront and while he’s still not going to win any awards, Broker is much more thoughtful and emotional than The Beekeeper’s Adam or The Transporter’s Frank. Admittedly, it’s a low bar to clear, but the scenes between Broker and his daughter are, surprisingly, the best in the movie.
Homefront Is A Passing Of The Torch
Like First Blood, Homefront started as a novel by Chuck Logan, the sixth in his Phil Broker series, and as with the film that introduced the world to John Rambo, Sylvester Stallone wrote the screenplay. When the film was finally going to get the green light, though, Stallone had second thoughts about how he was slowing down and thought he was too old for the role. He did go on to star in Rambo: Last Blood in 2019 but has since settled into his new role on Tulsa King, which is considerably less physically demanding.
Turning Homefront over to his friend was not only a nice gesture from Stallone, but it was a success as well, with the film easily surpassing its $22 million dollar budget by taking home $51 million at the box office. As is usually the case with Statham, though, the box office is going to be solid, but it’s through video on demand and streaming that his films truly hit, and over a decade later, his low-key Bayou adventure is still popping up on streaming top ten lists. Even though there are no spinning roundhouse kicks and a minimum of explosions, Homefront is one of Jason Statham’s best movies, and if you’ve been bored and burned out by his typical fare, fire it up and give it a chance, if nothing else, then to hear him try and pronounce “Bodine.”
Homefront is streaming on Max.
