Standoff - Die einzige Zeugin

"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.

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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.

'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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A Little, Low-Budget, and Suspenseful Scenario that is a lot Better than You would expect. It has Style and is Scripted for a Battle of Wits between Laurence Fishburne and Thomas Jane.

Fishburne is a Nasty Piece of Work and is appropriately Chilling as a Hit-Man that is Despicable, Cold, and Calculating. Jane Surprises with His Best Acting after a string of Awful Movies and for once He made a Career Decision that is Not Embarrassing.

Ella Ballentine is just Superb showing a Depth of Character Beyond Her Years and the Camera Loves Her. So will You as this Nail-Biter unfolds. The Writer-Director shows some Movie Making Chops and makes this Confined Setting Interesting.

A Movie that Delivers the most of what it has to offer. Brought Home by the Captivating Performances of the Three Leads with a Villain Worth Hating. It's Touching in Spots and Brutally Engaging in others.

Overall, Underrated and the Film goes Beyond its Constraints and Everyone involved can be Proud of the Results. Not a Shoot-em-Up by any stretch. It relies on Character and Dialog most of time, but is not without some of the Visceral needed to make this work, and it Works Just Fine.