Director Gary Fleder recently spoke with “Breakthrough Entertainment” about his new thriller “Homefront.”
In “Homefront,” which opens Wednesday, Nov. 27 at movie theaters throughout the Valley, Jason Statham plays a widowed ex-DEA agent who retires to a small town for the sake of his 10-year-old daughter (Izabela Vidovic). The only problem is he picked the wrong town. James Franco, Winona Ryder and Kate Bosworth also star.
Listen to “Breakthrough Entertainment’s” full interview with Fleder by clicking HERE. The following is an excerpt from the interview in which the director discusses what he hopes viewers take away from “Homefront” and what he took away from it as well.
“I think that one of the big themes is deciding who you are to your child. [Jason Statham’s character] is a guy with a past that was probably pretty intense with some violence and mayhem. He is a guy who clearly lived and thrived in that universe but has now given all of that up and is living this quiet life off the grid with his daughter. Then trouble finds him and he has got to decide who he is going to be. Is he going to be a guy who attracts violence and mayhem or a guy who doesn’t attract it and doesn’t want to be part of it?
“There is a very critical moment in the movie where he could have walked away from a situation where he is being embarrassed or whatever. But rather than walking away he lets it happen and, of course, that triggers this whole domino effect of bad behavior. But I am really intrigued by the notion of choices we make and I think that this movie is especially about a guy who decides what kind of man he is going to be to his daughter and to himself.
“I am a dad to a 5-year-old girl and it really made me examine moment by moment what it would be like to have a child in this situation. Basically, as parents, we want to protect our kids at all costs from everything. But the truth is you can’t. Ultimately, there is a certain level of control you don’t have. Every time your kid goes off to school or to camp or to the market or whatever, you are giving up control and I think that is part of life. So I think that this movie is examining that notion of this character who just wants to protect his child as he is grieving his wife – her mom – and how he is going to survive and thrive in this situation.” – Gary Fleder
