Review of Standoff (2016) by Andrew G — 05 Feb 2016

I had low expectations when it came to this film based on it's cover and minimal information I could find on the Internet. However, I was surprised to see a perfectly entertaining, if a little too "straight to DVD" for the general movie goer.

The film's simple premise goes like this. Lawrence Fishburne plays a hitman type character who chases a little girl named Isabella (played by Ella Ballentine) to a farmhouse where she is protected by Carter (played by Thomas Jane). The rest of the film is exactly what the title of the film says it is.

While the premise may be too simple for one's own taste, the film rides or dies on the performances. Luckily, the film rides high with Thomas Jane's great performance as a damaged man looking for redemption in himself after a past tragedy and Ella Ballentine's subdued performance as a girl who has experienced way too much sadness in her young life. Lawrence Fishburne is also especially fantastic, and the highlight in his role as a hitman/cleaner type who learns about the Carter's previous life throughout the first act.

Adam Alleca, in his directoral debut, does a good to great job with his actors while shooting this film to make it look like they really are trapped in the middle of nowhere in a rundown house.

There are some issues with this film, however. The inclusion of a police officer character seemed to be not necessary in this film and didn't have that great of a payoff to it. Also there are some character decisions and inconsistencies with the extent of injuries mounting in this film that are also a bit glaring. There is also a problem where as while the performances are great, the script resorts to repeating dialogue and story elements a few too many times. I could only hear Thomas Jane calling Lawrence Fishburne an "asshole" so many times.

With that being said, I applaud the performances and the minimal story as they were well executed. I also thought that the film's ending was strong, albeit a bit too clean.

3/5.