North Texas Daily

Cole Clay / Intern Wrtier

Rating: 3/5

Jason Statham is the most consistent actor currently working in Hollywood, but not because his films are particularly good, or even all that entertaining. It’s because when you walk into one of his films, such as “The Transporter” (2002), you know exactly what you are going to get. Statham is going to kick some ass, take a few names, save the day and maybe if we are lucky he might use his quirky British accent to add a bit little of charm.

“Homefront” pairs Statham against a local meth dealer played by the increasingly more erratic actor James Franco (“This Is The End” 2013) as the two square off in a turf war. One is a former DEA agent trying to protect his family and the other just wants to make a nice honest living dealing a little meth here and there.

It’s great to see such a high profile actor as Franco making such bold career moves as he has in 2013, most notably his portrayal of the gold toothed wannabe rapper/kingpin  “Alien” in “Springbreakers.” Franco is certainly no Bryan Cranston (“Breaking Bad”), but his character “Gator” does have a bit of a budding eeriness, which becomes apparent that you are never quite sure what he may do next.

We are first introduced to him bashing up a teenager’s knee with a piece of rebar, then we see him enjoying a nice quiet breakfast with the town folk like nothing ever happened. It seems that “Gator” and “Alien” have a lot in common with Franco, based on their unpredictability.

Not many action flicks want to take the time to develop their characters and why should they when you have a  lead like Statham punching his way through plot points. But “Homefront” does ask the audience to emote with it’s principal characters, which is seen mostly through Statham’s on screen daughter played by Izabella Vidovic (“Zombieland” 2009). Its kind of hard not to get just a little emotionally invested when there is an adorable tween girl tearing up about the recent passing of her mother.

With that being said, this film came directly from the mind of action mega-star Sylvester Stallone (“Rambo” 2008), who wrote the script.

Even though Stallone is an Oscar nominated screenwriter (“Rocky” 1976), it is a hilarious image thinking about him sitting behind his computer writing dialogue while doing bicep curls and drinking raw egg yolks.

“Homefront” is predictable, but exciting with two likable leads Statham and Franco and a solid cast of supporting characters, including a cracked out Kate Bosworth (“Blue Crush” 2002) and broken down Winona Ryder (“Star Trek” 2009). It’s not going to knock your socks off in terms of story or action, but you will get your money’s worth.