What Is ‘Homefront’? A Guide to James Franco’s Latest Drug-Fueled Cinematic Outing

By  · Published on November 13th, 2013

This Thanksgiving holiday, you and your family (bickering, loving, overstuffed, or some combination of the three) will have plenty of choices for after-meal movie-going fun. Perhaps you’ll take the kids to see Disney’s latest animated feature, Frozen, which involves animated princesses and animated snowmen and ‐ is that? ‐ a yak (could be a moose? An elk? We’ll look into this one). Maybe your family is in need of some musical excitement and holiday cheer, which means that Black Nativity should ring all of your bells. Maybe you hate your family and want to fool them ‐ there’s Oldboy for you! ‐ or you all want some historical meat to chew on (Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom). Heck, maybe you were even busy the week before, and now is the time to catch up on The Hunger Games: Catching Fire or Delivery Man. There are so many options ‐ it’s a cornucopia of Thanksgiving movie choices (forgive me). Or, maybe…

Well, maybe you’d like to take in a little action outing written by Sylvester Stallone that stars James Franco and Jason Statham as a dueling meth dealer and a former DEA agent, respectively? Oh, are you not familiar with Homefront? Let’s fix that.

What Is Homefront?

As described on the film’s IMDb page, the film centers on “a former DEA agent [who] moves his family to a quiet town, where he soon tangles with a local meth druglord.” This sounds sort of basic and boring until you realize that Statham is playing the DEA agent and Franco is playing the meth druglord. Whoever was responsible for casting this project deserves many, many awards. The film’s genres hit all of the high points ‐ action, crime, thriller ‐ that we would expect from such an outing. It was also filmed in New Orleans, so it should be soaked clean through with Southern decadance and drawl.

Homefront Was Written By Sylvester Stallone

Yes, Sylvester Stallone also writes movies, which seems both totally easy to forget and also incredibly hard to forget. He wrote all the Rocky movies! He wrote Over the Top! He wrote Cliffhanger and Driven and all three Expendables films! He was nominated for a screenplay Oscar for the first Rocky! And still ‐ still! ‐ it seems insane that Sylvester Stallone writes movies. The man is a multi-faceted renaissance man who has been nominated for two Oscars and two BAFTAs! So why do we still snicker when Stallone writes a film? Damn us. Damn us all. (Also, Stallone actually adapted the film from a Chuck Logan novel, but whatever.)

Homefront Was Directed By Gary Fleder

If you’re not name-familiar with Fleder, that’s okay, but the guy has directed plenty of stuff you’ve seen. You’ve seen Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead and Kiss the Girls and Runaway Jury, right? More of a TV person? Fine, we’ve got you ‐ Fleder has also directed episodes of October Road, Life Unexpected, and even two episodes of Tales from the Crypt.

Homefront Stars James Franco and Jason Statham

Honestly, where do these two find the time? James Franco is in the midst of writing, directing, starring in, crafting art projects around, saying zany stuff about, and adapting, as best we can tell, literally every current project in Hollywood. Literally. Really. Jason Statham’s schedule is jammed with action-y dreams ‐ from The Expendables 3 to Fast & Furious 7 to Susan Cooper — isn’t he tired yet? Does Jason Statham ever get tired?

Homefront Also Stars Winona Ryder and Rachelle Lefevre and Kate Bosworth

It’s just a fact. (Also a fact ‐ Kate Bosworth looks incredibly on point in this film. We can only assume she’s hooked on Franco’s cook, because she looks wild.)

Here Is a Poster for Homefront

America!

Here Is Another Poster for Homefront

Evil James Franco and fire!

Here Is Yet Another Poster for Homefront

Guns!

(Those three posters seem to sum up the movie quite well ‐ at least as far as we can tell.)

Did Jason Staham just stab someone with a gas pump?

Here Is a Red Band Trailer for Homefront

Is James Franco joking? Is he not joking? Which is more exciting?

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Homefront opens on November 27th, making it the clear Thanksgiving movie winner. Eat up.

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