As a commentary on the whirlwind of sound and fury that is life, a tale mumbled by an idiot, James Franco stars in Homefront, an action thriller scripted by Sylvester Stallone, in which James Franco toys with the concept of actually being a threat to Jason Statham. In this pulse-pounding exegesis, Franco’s character, a meth dealer named “Gator,” will explore and question the very archetype of the action movie villain, whom convention dictates is typically intimidating, and poses believable danger to the film’s hero. By subverting those audience expectations, Franco—who stalks Statham’s retired DEA agent because of a playground squabble between their kids, thus parodying the innate and petty nature of human conflict—hopes to leave them questioning what the action movie genre says about that conflict, and whether conflict itself is an artificial construct.
Other questions for further discussion: Why is Winona Ryder in this, and why does Winona Ryder look as though she’s wondering why Winona Ryder is in this? Jesus, did the scarily skinny Kate Bosworth prepare by actually doing a lot of meth? Did Jason Statham just decide that, fuck it, if he’s supposed to be fighting James Franco, he’s not even gonna try faking an American accent this time?
