Standoff

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The director of this film must have financed the film by breaking into his children's piggy bank. I have seen many excellent movies that were filmed on a shoestring budget. This was not one of them. Let's keep it simple: 1) The plot holes were so glaring it was laughable. Missed opportunities galore for the characters to remove themselves from the peril they found themselves in. You will likely find yourself shaking your head at the contrived dramatic sequences. 2). The screenplay was simply juvenile. The only way it could have been worse is if the characters announced to each other their actions before they performed them. Oh wait, they did. 3). The acting was horrendous. Ranging from very bad, to flat, to grand histrionic over acting. 4). Zero character development and with only two main actors in the movie It wouldn't seem hard to make the characters endearing. For example, was Thomas Jane's character smart or dumb? He was set up to be a military veteran, yet time and again the character's actions were totally out of step with who the movie set him up to be. Do not waste your time. Go look for shooting stars.

I think this is the first fair to middling grade I've given to a film on IMDb. The movie is worth it just for the acting alone. Since it's basically set in one location like a Broadway play, it does have a talky-stagey feel, kinda like a profane and violent Tennessee Williams outing, if you will. All three leads were right on point with their acting. The standout, to me, was Ella Ballentine. Her role here was probably Oscar material except it happened to be in a film which isn't. I stopped the movie halfway through to google her resume. She's done a lot of work and I expect her to grow into a super fine actress like Meryl Street or Jodie Foster. The "stretch" with this movie was the dialog. It was too lengthy and improbable, but I guess they did have to stretch the film out to 90 minutes so they may as well had the characters talking and talking and talking. This makes for an interesting character study but not necessarily for an exciting film. If you see this movie, that's cool. If you don't, that's okay, too. It wasn't a total waste of time. I've seen worse.

'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. Watch our movie review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHm0V1TOCkg

"The little lady has seen my face, now she's got to pay the price. Like everybody else. That's how it works." Sade (Fishburne) is an assassin with one rule, leave no witnesses. After taking care of who he was supposed to he sees a little girl. Not wanting to break his rule he follows her to the home of Carter (Jane). The two engage in a standoff over a little girl with neither willing to budge at all. It becomes a battle of wills with the little girl's life at stake. This is a movie that only works because of one thing. The acting. This easily could have become super cheesy, boring or unwatchable if the casting wasn't right. Luckily for the film, and for us, they got it right. Fishburne does a great job of playing a hard edge assassin without becoming too over the top or hokey. Jane does a great job of playing a veteran on the edge of losing everything and seeing this girl as his salvation. They turn the movie from a great half hour TV show idea into a full length movie that works. It does seem to drag and get repetitive at times, but overall this is a good movie that is worth your time because of the acting. I give this a B.

"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 fascinating film. Yet another proof that films that take place exclusively in one particular location, can also be entertaining. At least I didn't need to fight against sleep, as those two guys. More reviews here : http://bit.ly/1KIdQMT

My heart was in my mouth the whole movie! Really extincting! Young girl visits her parents grave. However while is there she witnesses murder of 3 people. She quickly takes the picture of the murderer and starts ruining for her life! She runs into a house where the ex military man lives. Alone after his son's death. Murder wants to kill the kid as she can identify him. Our hero tries everything in his power to prevent that! I was not moved by a movie like this in a long time. Entire story unfolds in one house close to graveyard. But there is bag full of thrilling moments! By the way amazing selection of the song in the closing scene. It served a great movie Just Right! I definitely recommend you to watch this movie!

You can't fault Standoff for not delivering its title in swift fashion. From the first act people just come out of nowhere and start shooting at each other, then you have it, a standoff. This is a simple theme which is used delicately, both lead actors create an intense atmosphere and the relatively short runtime manages to squeeze in plenty of action movie maneuvers nicely. An assassin (Laurence Fishburne) goes onto killing spree in a funeral. Unfortunately for him, there's a little girl witnessing the savage display who eventually runs into the nearby house of a veteran soldier Carter (Thomas Jane). The three engage in wit and verbal battle for their survival, chipping away at each other with insult and injury. Granted, this premise is rather outlandish. Assassin who blasts his way in daylight, a house in the middle of nowhere and basically a couple of the set-up are arguably far-fetched. Nevertheless, the movie is commendably unapologetic about this, ushering the characters into the predicament and on with the show. Both Laurence Fishburne and Thomas Jane deliver a highly volatile tension. Thomas Jane is man with guilty conscience, he's weighted down by his past and this awful yet serendipitous scenario offers him a chance for salvation. It's a strange instant guardian instinct, which sets the motivation for his character well. Laurence Fishburne, on the other hand, is a frantic and desperate man, increasingly so by the minutes. He does a good job of portraying the antagonist, spewing vile words and keeping up a defensive posture. Credit goes to Ella Ballentine as the girl in peril. She seems timid yet lovable, her performance is more controlled anxiety than constant crying and there's a good chemistry with Thomas Jane as well. For visual, its cinematography uses the claustrophobic setting to full advantage. On a few occasions it captures the struggle so brilliantly. The change of light and the way the girl's red dress flutters are also good shots, the director knows how to set ambiance right. Furthermore, the small setting is easily understandable which goes a long way to create immersion for audience. It may start a bit outlandish, but Standoff is the essence of action thriller. The idea of few characters in unstable predicament told in viciously vehement spectacle and compact manageable pace is highly captivating.