Jack, Billy Bob Thornton, Carter, Hank Azaria, and Harlan, Ryan Philippe, are dope growers. Somewhere in rural California, they`ve been cultivating acres of weed on behalf of San Francisco businessman Malcolm Stockman, John Lithgow. But when Stockman drops in by chopper to pay them a visit, his pilot suddenly turns on him, shoots him dead, and flies off, leaving the gobsmacked growers without an employer but with a body to dispose of. And to whom can they sell their crop. Eccentric mafia man, Ted Danson, or seemingly relaxed but actually pretty ruthless local entrepreneur, Jon Bon Jovi.
Neither full-on comedy nor thriller, Homegrown is a laid-back but only fitfully engaging hybrid. The characters are amiable enough, but director Stephen Gyllenhaal doesn`t inject any urgency or narrative drive into the spaced-out proceedings. When it`s trying to be funny, the film mostly falls flat; the potential for suspense is greater, but this, too, is frittered away. The actors, including charming Kelly Lynch, are no more than adequate. Maybe everyone concerned had been smoking too much of the crop...
