Homefront is a 2013 American action thriller film directed by Gary Fleder and written by Sylvester Stallone, who also produced the film with Kevin King Templeton and John Thompson. The film, which is based on the novel of the same name by Chuck Logan, stars Jason Statham, James Franco, Winona Ryder, and Kate Bosworth. In the film, Phil Broker, a retired Drug Enforcement Administration (|DEA) agent, leads a peaceful life with his daughter Maddy, but trouble ensues as Broker and Maddy get entangled with Gator, a crime boss, due to a school bullying incident. Filming began on October 1, 2012 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Homefront was released on November 27, 2013.

Plot

Phil Broker, a DEA agent, raids a methamphetamine laboratory owned by Danny T, a biker gang boss, and retires from the agency. Broker moves to a small Louisiana town with his daughter Maddy. One day, Maddy gets into a fight with a bully, Teddy Klum, when Broker is called to her school. As they prepare to return home, Teddy's mother Cassie instigates a fight between her husband and Broker, which Broker wins easily. An enraged Cassie asks her brother Gator, a crime boss running a meth lab, to intimidate Broker. While working, Broker's friend Teedo warns him that the locals might engage in an old-school fight and not to trust them. When Broker and Maddy go horseback riding, Gator breaks into their house, kidnaps Maddy's cat Luther, and finds old DEA personnel files. Gator discovers that Broker was responsible for Danny T's arrest, which resulted in the death of Danny T's son. Hoping to expand his influence, Gator and his girlfriend Sheryl tip off Danny T, who sends members of his gang to kill Broker. Broker attempts to smooth over the situation with Teddy's family, by having Maddy invite Teddy to her birthday party. As tensions between the two families slowly ease, with Teddy and Maddy becoming friends, Gator warns Cassie to stay away from Broker. Broker's DEA contacts warn him that Gator may be involved with Danny T. Later, Broker heads to Gator's meth lab and sets traps, but he is subdued and tortured by Gator's thugs. Broker manages to escape, defeat his captors, and recover Luther. Before Broker and Maddy leave town, the gang members and Sheryl arrive, and Broker ambushes and kills most of the gang members, and Teedo gets injured, while warning Broker and Maddy. During the firefight, Sheryl kidnaps Maddy in a boat, who uses her dad's cell phone to call Broker. From Maddy's descriptions, Broker realizes that Maddy has been taken to Gator's meth lab. Cassie arrives at Gator's warehouse after hearing news of the gunfight, and she is horrified to find Maddy there. Cassie angrily confronts Gator and demands he release Maddy before accidentally setting off Broker's traps and causing the entire building to explode into flames. Disgusted with Gator, Cassie attempts to flee with Maddy, leading to a struggle in which Gator accidentally shoots Cassie. Gator flees with Maddy in his truck, with Broker in pursuit. When Broker crashes his car, Gator prepares to shoot him, but is distracted by Maddy, whom he attempts to force back into his truck. Taking advantage of the distraction, Broker frees himself and savagely thrashes Gator, pointing a gun to his head; his daughter pleads with him not to do it and to end the nightmare, and that is when Broker tells Gator that his daughter just saved his life, before reuniting with Maddy. Gator and Sheryl are arrested, while Teedo and Cassie are taken to the hospital. Later, Broker visits Danny T in prison, letting him know that he will be around when Danny T is eventually released.

Cast

In addition, Marcus Hester portrays Jimmy Klum, Omar Benson Miller plays Teedo, and Chuck Zito appears as "Danny T" Turrie.

Production

Sylvester Stallone wrote the script, which is based on the novel of the same name by Chuck Logan. The film was originally intended to have Stallone in the lead role, but Stallone stayed on as the producer and passed on the lead role to Jason Statham.

Reception

= Box office

= Homefront grossed $20.2 million in the United States and Canada and $31.5 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $51.7 million, against a budget of $22 million. It opened at number 5 at the US box office in its first weekend, and spent its first three weekends in the top 10 at the US box office.

= Critical response

= On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 42% of 114 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.0/10. The website's consensus reads: "While it boasts a capable cast, the disappointingly dull Homefront hearkens back to classic action thrillers without adding anything to the genre." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 40 out of 100, based on 35 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Scott Foundas of Variety notes the reliable presence of Statham, but blames director Gary Fleder for "making an incoherent jumble of most of the action scenes". He calls Bosworth's performance the film's "greatest surprise", and Franco's performance as its "biggest disappointment". Foundas calls the film "surprisingly joyless" and "less than the sum of its parts."

References

External links

Homefront at IMDb