Homefront 2013

Kyle Smith, New York Post: Pardon me, "Homefront," but I'm having a little trouble finding James Franco, as a bayou meth lord, to be much of a match for Jason Statham, as an ex-DEA agent hiding out anonymously with his daughter. Read more

Soren Anderson, Seattle Times: A picture that could more tellingly be titled "More of the Same." Read more

Scott Foundas, Variety: Statham plus Stallone plus Franco equals a surprisingly joyless backwoods action programmer. Read more

Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, AV Club: The basic ingredients of a throwback action movie are all there; what's missing is action and style. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: Franco, as is often the case, seems to be acting in his own private movie and having a grand old time doing so; results for the audience may vary. Read more

Tom Russo, Boston Globe: The entertainingly one-note Statham tossed together with chronically versatile James Franco-in a movie scripted by Sylvester Stallone, no less. Read more

Ben Sachs, Chicago Reader: There's little in the way of character, visual style, or suspense. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: We don't really need this old thing, which tries to be a modern Western but ends up being a swampy, derivative action film, indebted to B movies of the '70s but unable to pay the debt in an interesting way. Read more

Cary Darling, Fort Worth Star-Telegram/DFW.com: Jason Statham and James Franco squaring off over meth with a script by Sylvester Stallone? Sounds like a guilty pleasure, right? Unfortunately, the result is a rather rote action thriller that only comes alive during the well-staged fight scenes. Read more

Jordan Hoffman, Film.com: Just when you thought you had seen the craziest James Franco performance of the year... Read more

Wesley Morris, Grantland: I can barely remember who lives or dies. I barely cared. Read more

Todd McCarthy, Hollywood Reporter: Jason Statham squares off against poor white trash in an old Sylvester Stallone script that should have stayed on the shelf. Read more

Annlee Ellingson, Los Angeles Times: [Statham's] paired with a precocious adolescent daughter and an adorable kitten that only accentuate his charm. Read more

Amy Nicholson, L.A. Weekly: Stallone plopping Statham in this bore feels like an alpha setting up his successor to fail, like Zeus swallowing up his challengers before they force him into retirement. Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: Franco, who brought so much dynamic weirdness to the role of Alien in Spring Breakers, looks as engaged here as he did while hosting the Oscars. Read more

Rafer Guzman, Newsday: For one brief moment in "Homefront," you will think: This is going to be awesome. Read more

David Denby, New Yorker: The screenplay for this violent retro schlock was written by Sylvester Stallone, and the movie feels like something out of the early eighties. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: It works, in a generic way, but there are no surprises. Read more

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: A disappointing mess of a genre flick. Read more

Manohla Dargis, New York Times: An indefensibly enjoyable piece of exploitation hackwork. Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: Ryder rockets to such heights of emoting that she looks like she could black out from lack of oxygen. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: There's something almost refreshing about a movie that delivers exactly what's expected of it. Read more

Richard Roeper, Richard Roeper.com: The deeper we go into this story, the more ridiculous the coincidences and plot twists. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: Everyone cast against type. Everyone breathtakingly bad, reciting dialogue by Sylvester Stallone that begs for a "mute" button. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: "Homefront" is hard not to like and impossible to respect. Read more

Kristin Tillotson, Minneapolis Star Tribune: To alternate fistfights and gunplay with paternal tenderness is a tall order for any action movie, and to do so without slowing things down is nearly impossible. Read more

Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail: Homefront aims to be retro, greasy comfort food but despite its lowly ambitions, there's barely enough spice here to merit a decent burp. Read more

Linda Barnard, Toronto Star: Homefront is ridiculously overdone. Read more

Tom Huddleston, Time Out: 'Homefront' just isn't the Southern-fried smackdown it should have been Read more

Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out: The worst sin is visited upon Statham: Sure, those fists fly, but his poetry has become a chopped-up hash. Read more

Scott Bowles, USA Today: Homefront is what Breaking Bad may have resembled had Sylvester Stallone written the TV show. Read more

Bilge Ebiri, New York Magazine/Vulture: By making Statham a regretful lawman, it neutralizes his main talent, effectively neutering him. It also telegraphs the kind of mostly watered-down movie we're about to see. Read more

Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post: [It] isn't Statham's best - or most brutal - work, but it's not bad. Read more