Standoff (2016)

This is a great little movie. The small cast portray their characters beautifully. The story is simple but perfectly executed. No gimmicks just good theatre. Get a glass of wine, sit back and enjoy this nicely crafted thriller.

Fmovies: I went into this totally expecting a very middle of the road flick... But i was surprised no end by how invested you become in this movie! The characters might only be very loosely thrown at us,and yet you cant hep feeling attached to them. The wounded vet... The heartless hitman.... And of course the innocent victim... And yet this flick finds a heart to it that i cant explain!!!

If you are planning to see a western movie, you can skip "The hateful eight" (which in my opinion was crap) and see this instead. This movie is a modern time western in many ways including clothing, scenery and theme.

The direction of photography is very good. Artistic sometimes yet efficient. The music pad adds to the atmosphere without being in the way. The pace of the film is the appropriate. Not to hasty and certainly not boring.

But the major asset of the movie is the performance from the 2 leads. Laurence Fishburne takes his role seriously and portraying the villain with finesse. Thomas Jane looks good too and his performance is solid.

The plot it resembles that of a western. It is a little bit on the naive side but it works. The movie has emotions and suspense. Obviously I won't spoil you the ending but it might needed an extra (obvious?) scene that you might miss.

Overall: You don't need a budget made of millions to make a good movie. Good camera work. Good performances and directing and you have what it takes.

Standoff fmovies. First, an explanation for that admittedly inflated rating: I felt it necessary to offset what I think were some pretty harsh ratings given elsewhere. As far as the film goes, I think its first-time writer-director did a great job in crafting a story whose plot-line and characters' actions are rationally defensible. That alone is a goddamn miracle in this day and age. True, I would have given more consideration in establishing the cemetery scene as the explosive catalyst, but it accomplishes what it's meant to: It gets Thomas and Lawrence where they need to be - at each other's throats. As is always the case with such fare, you can nitpick elsewhere, too. But the bottom line is that "Standoff" plays fair with its audience. Despite not taking my Ritalin I didn't get bored once or felt like my intelligence was insulted. The best piece of advice I can give the prospective viewer is not to expect any Michael Bay-level pyrotechnics. It ain't that kind of flick, Bubba (again, that's a good thing). It's an interesting study of two men at the end of their ropes whose skill sets lend themselves to the tasks at hand. All the actors are at least credible and the camera work and lighting are exceptionally good for this kind of film. Finally, the banter between the two stars is what makes the film.

"Well, well, well. That man knows his guns. So do I."

As I said in my review about the film "Weaponized" : "I have a weak spot for low-budget, straight to DVD, B-movies" and occasionally I discover "a piddling, unknown and unloved movie, which surpasses some blockbusters in terms of content and design". "Standoff" is such a movie. An unpretentious film with a straight forward script. The makers don't waste too much time and introduce practically immediately a deadly, accurate assassin (Laurence Fishburne), who turns a modest funeral into a bloody massacre without batting an eye. His appearance reminded me a little of "The Terminator". But this time with a jet-black balaclava.

The only thing this professional, routinized killer didn't take into account, is Bird (Ella Ballentine). A skinny, shy girl with a camera around her neck serving as protection against and a window at the unjust world, who unwittingly takes a snapshot of the face of the killer. What follows is a chase because the murderer wants to clean up this last witness at all cost. An isolated farmhouse owned by Carter (Thomas Jane), an ex-soldier full of self-pity and remorse trying to forget his grief using booze, is the endpoint. Remorse because of an unfortunate accident that happened to his son. As a result his wife also left him. Bird showing up there might probably be interpreted by Carter as an opportunity to show a sense of responsibility for once.

And before you know it, those two ex-military are in the grip of a standoff. Sade, the assassin with enough firepower, installs himself on the ground floor, while Carter and Bird entrench themselves upstairs, only armed with a "20-gauge shotgun" and only one shell. And so the psychological warfare between the two rivals can start with Bird at stake. There's no lengthy intro or a detailed explanation. Even the multiple assassination at the beginning isn't explained or elucidated. This is in fact of secondary importance. The story develops rapidly at the beginning. Within 10 minutes you are fully aware what situation both men are in. There's the possibility that from there on it could become boring, monotonous and slow. However, the opposite is true.

Sade tries in a verbal manner (and also in other ways) to persuade Carter to turn in Bird, while Carter guards the staircase. The subsequent dialogs between these two are on the one hand provocative and offensive. But on the other hand they are also psychologically thought through. Fishburne is clearly in his element as the unscrupulous villain. It was a pleasure to see him again in a leading role (it's at least more impressive than his roles in "The Signal" and "The Colony"). Jane surprised me and this shows that it wasn't his fault that his acting in "Vice" was worthless, but indeed, that film was quite appalling. Not to say utter crap. Here Jane plays a perfectly balanced role as a tormented heap of misery, full of despair and weariness of life, who transforms into a responsible savior. And finally an honorable mention for Ella Ballentine who did great.

Even though this "home invasion" film wasn't very original and the storyline was quite simple, it still managed to captivate me. And even though the end was kind of predictable, I still wondered how it would eventually end up anyway. An additional advantage was the short playing time which in turn led to a proper pace. All in all, a fascinatin

This movie's purpose isn't some crazy action movie. Nor is it an extremely complex story. I don't want to provide spoilers so I'll keep it simple. It is the story of 3 people with a damaged past that come together... and the experience of how they each face the given issue during that moment. And boy does it do it good. The actors did a great job, honestly. This simple movie actually did touch me. I enjoyed it. Near the end I actually started connecting with the characters and liked them. Just watch it. I don't know if I would go to the theaters for it but it is definitely enjoyable to watch at home. I'd say it should at least be a 7/10.

Hope this short review helps.