Men on Fire

'STANDOFF': Three and a Half Stars (Out of Five)

Low-budget action flick, about a standoff between a war veteran and an assassin, in the veteran's country home; over the safety of a young girl, who witnessed a vicious crime. The movie stars Thomas Jane, Laurence Fishburne and newcomer Ella Ballentine. It was written and directed by first time feature filmmaker Adam Alleca. For what it is, the film isn't bad.

Jane plays Carter Green; a military veteran that recently suffered a horrible tragedy. He's now a depressed alcoholic, that lives alone and contemplates suicide. Fishburne plays a hit-man named Sade; who's very good at his job, and extremely calculated. When a young girl, named Bird (Ballentine), witnesses Sade killing multiple people, the hit- man decides she must die. Bird runs to Carter's house for protection, and an intense standoff between the two men develops. Carter has nothing but a shotgun, and two rounds, to protect him and the girl.

The movie is pretty well done, for such a simple story. The characters are nicely developed, the performances are decent, and the directing is more than adequate (especially for such a low budget film). With all that said, there's still not a lot to the movie; and I don't think I'll probably remember much about it, years from now. Still, I had a good time while I was watching it.

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Just watched this on the Sony Movie Channel and to be fair they do pump out some good films almost as well as Film4 and this is no exception.

I have always liked Thomas Jane since I saw him in The Mist and many other films as he straddles the ability to fit in as an Action movie star but with the ability to handle the drama and romance softer side of acting which is no mean feat these days.

This movie is action packed full of gruesome violence but yet has a solid story and good characterization and is one of those movies set in a static confined location which is not an easy thing to accomplish by any director but Adam Alleca pulls it off with aplomb and deserves full credit for taking a basic story and making it into a riveting and engaging action/thriller.

I loved the surprise ending; it almost gets an extra star just for that but it deserves a very solid 7/10 stars from me as it was a most unexpected and enjoyable evenings movie viewing.

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.

When I stumbled upon this 2016 thriller here in 2021, I had to sit down and watch it right away, as the movie had both Thomas Jane and Laurence Fishburne on the cast list. And as I never had heard about the movie, I didn't know what it was about. But that was hardly an issue given the cast ensemble.

And now that I have seen "Standoff", I must admit that writer and director Adam Alleca definitely managed to put together an entertaining movie and an interesting storyline. Sure, the movie takes place at essentially just a single small location, but the interaction between the characters and the growing tension is what carries the movie, not to mention the good acting performances.

While "Standoff" is entertaining and watchable, this was hardly the type of thriller that you will return to watch a second time, as the contents of the storyline just doesn't have enough meat on it to support that. This is the type of thriller that you just enjoy once.

Now the acting performances by Thomas Jane and Laurence Fishburne were good and they had such good on screen chemistry between them. But the movie also had Ella Ballentine on the cast list, and I don't believe I am at all familiar with her acting performances, but she really managed to put on a good and believable performance in "Standoff".

My rating of "Standoff" lands on a six out of ten stars.

I honestly don't understand the really nasty reviews here. This is a very well directed thriller with some great acting from the leads & well worth a look. If you are fond of one location thrillers with a good build up of suspense & tension along with fine character development you'll enjoy it too. If you're looking for an action-packed thrill-a-minute flick this is not the movie for you. I loved the performances of all three leads - the little girl was excellent - and I thought the direction was exceptionally good - I look forward to seeing what the director can produce in the future as he develops. I have no idea why so many people these days think movies should be direct copies of reality - that's why they're movies. They're not going to be "real" - for that you need to pick up a documentary. That said, the premise of this movie, while requiring some suspension of disbelief, does not stray as far from believability as some of these reviews would have you believe. It's not brilliant or perfect but it's a good watch.