A Review of ‘Homestead’ on Tubi Also Follows Below

As a follow-up to previous posts, here are some additional capsule reviews of gangster/thriller movies (content not for kids) available on streaming services. As always, your mileage may vary.

Dragged Across Concrete. Netflix, where it is currently trending supposedly, lists this 2018 film as a new release. “Suspended without pay for using excessive force, two cops indeed of a new source of income turn to the criminal underworld” is the Netflix summary. Mel Gibson and Vince Vaughn portray the two financially challenged, rogue detectives.

With those two established, if not iconic, stars (and excluding Gibson’s controversial off-screen persona), you might figure this movie could be good. A certain amount of movie chemistry does exist between them. There is some surprising, non-PC dialogue, and the nuanced scene with Don Johnson as their police department superior in which he informs them of their suspension, comes across as very real in a politicized, big-city environment. Several corporate media outlets have branded the movie as racist.

That controversy aside, the the approximately 2-1/2 hour Dragged Across Concrete is too slow paced — even evidenced by the trailer — and thus needed further editing because it becomes, well, a drag. Among other scenes that don’t contribute to the narrative, this includes an odd digression into a needless subplot with Dexter actress Jennifer Carpenter.

On a more practical level, since many cops (even for those who agree that real-world law enforcement officers are underpaid for what they have to deal with this days) earn well into the six figures — especially with overtime shifts — that the crime-opting duo would immediately be unable to make ends meet is not believable.

Also not credible is that the Gibson character — who at the same chronological age would have been long retired from the force — and his family (his wife is portrayed by Laurie Holden of Walking Dead fame) would be forced to live in a run-down, urban neighborhood.

The final gunfight between the “good guys” and the bad guys falls flat (although there is one clever and shocking plot twist), and the resolution of the plot is predictable. Dragged Across Concrete currently has a 69 percent audience score on Rotten Tomatoes and an equivalent 6.9 out of 10 user rating on IMDB.

Homestead (2022) is currently streaming for free on Tubi. The streamer summarizes the film as “The survival of a homesteading family that gets taken captive by a gang of outlaws falls in the hands of a loud-mouthed, 12-year-old markswoman.” You may be drawn to the film because it stars charismatic former professional wrestler and DDP Yoga impresario Diamond Dallas Page as one of the bad guys. You can find lots of testimonials from devotees about how DDP Yoga has become essential for their well-being. Categorized as “Western-Horror” by Tubi, Homestead, however, is sick.

It’s pointless torture porn masquerading as a Western. Wrestling and Yoga fans might wish that Page had a bigger role. Fortunately for him, however, DDP is evicted from this unpleasant movie, which itself is only 79 minutes, relatively early.

The fake accents by the cast also seems off-putting aw well as the miraculous recovery by some of the characters from knife or bullet wounds. Admittedly (spoiler), the pretend suicide was a cool twist.

While there is, or should be, a market for the Western genre, Homestead is a no sale or a metaphorical foreclosed property. And as the tagline implies, it also contains a subtext, or more than a subtext, of girl power, which seems to have become an ironclad rule for film industry scripts.

10 Days of a Good Man (2023, from Turkey with subtitles) on Netflix. Based on a novel, Nejat Isler portrays Sadik, a chain-smoking, disbarred lawyer and ex-con turned private eye who investigates a missing persons case which brings him in contact with menacing gangsters and degenerates. Sadik meanders through the investigation until the last 20 minutes or so when he evolves into a genius. The real star is the wardrobe designer for the various female characters, including Sadik’s much younger neighbor, whom he implausibly romances. One significant challenge is that you may need a scorecard to keep track of who is doing what to whom over the two-hour run time of this movie. Netflix has already announced a sequel. A qualified recommendation for this ‘good’ movie.

Small Crimes (2017). In a strong performance, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau plays disgraced ex-cop Joe Denton who returns to his corrupt hometown (bad idea) after getting released from prison in this Netflix original. The late Robert Foster, who was always good in every movie, and Jacki Weaver play his parents. Gary Cole has the role of a former police colleague who pressures Denton into more skullduggery. The nature of Denton’s prior misconduct is generally only hinted at, which actually is a deft aspect of the storyline. You may consider this too picky, but there is at least one plot hole involving a character whose actions prove decisive. Why does a private-duty nurse (Molly Parker) for the rich guy who runs the town have her own apartment, when she’s (a) not from the area, and (b) somehow has a lot of free time, even though Sunday is her only day off, and (c) she is supposed to be providing 24-hour care? The script could have included a line indicating that she was the day nurse, and someone else works the overnight shift, etc. Despite the onus of a Netflix Original, the very grim and violent Small Crimes nonetheless gets a

Backtrace. Did Matthew Modine and Sylvester Stallone (the latter who, as many have noted, plays a police official in what amounts to a glorified cameo) really need the payday in this cliche-ridden, boring, implausible opus? Here is the Netflix summary of this direct-to-video offering: “Left with amnesia after [a] bank heist gone wrong, a man gets busted out of prison and given a drug to help recover his memory –and the missing loot.” The Rotten Tomatoes audience score is just 24 percent — 3.8 out of 10 from IMDB. As one IMDB user wrote, “I have never seen a film were every one looks so bored, the writing and score are really bad, the dialogue pitiful and the music overbearing. There are so many plot holes you could drive a horse and carriage through them…”

Writer’s Block (2019) streaming on Amazon Prime. The plot centers on a battle of wits, or half-wits, between a best-selling author and a ghostwriter that turns violent. Making a movie is a massive undertaking to be sure, but you need to quickly turn the page on this low-budget entry with amateurish acting. To quote another IMDB user, “Dumb premise for a story, utter ignorance of how writing and publishing works, and the story just falls apart in the last half hour.