Stand Alone

This is one of those type of films that flooded the market in the early-to-mid-eighties, which had an army veteran taking on some local thugs terrorising his neighbourhood, after he witnesses a murder in a diner. Sadly there's nothing new here. The same old set-up, but feebly done and not all that involving. Interesting cast works in its favour, but the support players Pam Grier (who had the most resourceful character) and James Keach (at the opposite end of the spectrum) can only do so much. Charles Durning is in the lead. Solid choice; but in saying that, there are too many implausible moments, which makes him stick out like a sore thumb. Not his portrayal, but what it psychically asked from him. I'll tell you he looks much leaner in that movie poster. Just wait around for the barnstorming climax... I found myself chuckling more so often than feeling anything truly threatening and tension induced. Like the phone booth scene. Everything moves at snail's pace and that includes some of Dunning's actions when coming up against these professional gangland killers. While the script might have social commentary evident and be familiarly dramatic, it just wasn't brought across all that convincingly and felt ham-fisted.

I have mixed thoughts about this movie. On one hand it is the genuineness of the plot and the characters that intrigues me but on the other hand it's the odd dialog in the script and the cheesy music that repels me. The acting isn't bad but so often the script makes no sense. I don't know what else to say except I was compelled to watch to the end and liked the cast and their performances (especially Charles Durning) but the direction, writing, and music get very low scores. 5.4/10.

There were no shortage of vigilante.movies following the success of Death Wish. However, by the mid 80's a lot of these movies were less believable or cartoonish. Take a look at Death Wish 3 to see what I am talking about. I thought Stand Alone was pretty good and I am a little surprised that I am just discovering this movie now. I would say this is comparable with a British vigilante film that came much later ( Harry Brown), but much less bleak than that film. Charles Durning is very believable as a loveable old grandpa that is pretty tough and decorated WW2 veteran. He comes across as an everyman, but is totally credible when he is threatened and proceeds to take out the trash. The supporting cast of Pam Grier and James Keatch don't hurt either. I don't know the actor's name, but the Latino guy who frequently plays a heavy in Walter Hill films is a great villain as the leader of The Skull Tattoo gang that has it out for Charles Durning. Even though this is an 80's movie the cheese is kept to a minimum and is taken fairly seriously. I just discovered this movie, and would definitely recommend it, Stand Alone is a solid action drama and a lot better than a bunch of vigilante action flicks that have gotten more attention.

Charles Durning is out of his league in "Stand Alone". Durning is almost always worth watching but this movie stinks. It starts off kind of fun as Durning and his big belly get involved with the bad guys. But after twenty minutes or so, the movie becomes painfully dull. The script is paint-by-numbers urban action stuff. The cop characters are all poorly written. They act in totally unbelievable ways. In 1985 an older Charles Bronson was still making movies. Bronson could probably made something of this material. Durning and his big fat belly, on the other hand, just looks ridiculous running around fighting bad guys. "Stand Alone" is a swing and a miss.

Throughly intense. Just goes to show why you should never judge a book by its cover. Charles Durning portrayal of an aging veteran is both surprising and fantastic. He's not the usual Gibson or Jackson type star Hollywood would use to enhance this character. The really scary factor in this movie is that it could actually happen anywhere. there's no super movie special effects, just straight out home brewed justice. This movie not only illustrates social and cultural stress of changing urban demographics, it delves deep into the psyche of post traumatic stress that many war veterans live with on a daily basis. Definitely a must see, you may never look at your war veteran neighbor the same again. Now, if this would only be distributed on DVD!