By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Bronwen Hughes
Starring: David O'Hara | Deborah Kara Unger | Dexter Fletcher | Thomas Jane
Country: canada, germany, south_africa, united_kingdom
Year: 2004
Running time: 111
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0326208/combined
Michael says: “Color me stunned. This was one enjoyable film!
“Take your (anything but standard) biopic, add some bank robberies, some time in the big house, gun play and car chases, chic late ‘70’s fashion, steamy love scenes between a husband and wife, and a good dose of early ’80’s South African politics and you’ve got STANDER. Bronwen Hughes third film is a beautifully shot, complex true story about André Stander, a South African police captain who becomes wracked with guilt in his participation at a riot where some African people were needlessly killed. Filled with disgust at the state of his country, he one day finds himself cheating the system as a private protest of it. Amazed at how easy it is, he goes on a bank robbing spree before ultimately being imprisoned. That’s just the beginning of the story, but I won’t go any further because I would urge to you to see this film (it’s available on DVD – through NetFlix if you can’t find it anywhere else!)
“I am very impressed with Bronwen Hughes’ work. This is an inexplicable follow-up to her first two features, HARRIET THE SPY and FORCES OF NATURE. Her work for big studio films paid off, as the look of STANDER is glossy, professional, and perfect for this unbelievable tale. Thomas Jane (whose mixed career includes small parts in BOOGIE NIGHTS and MAGNOLIA, as well as DREAMCATCHER and the title role in THE PUNISHER) plays Stander with just the right amount of political outrage, cocky self-assurance, and irreverence, all the while juggling a powerful love for his wife and father. Supporting roles are all good, including David O’Hara (HOTEL RWANDA) and Dexter Fletcher (TOPSY-TURVY) as Stander’s accomplices, Deborah Kara Unger (THIRTEEN) as his wife, and Ashley Taylor in his first film role as Stander’s former fellow cop. Bima Stagg’s screenplay is tight, juggling the many themes without going over the top or resorting to sentimentality. 4 ½ cats”
Thom says: “STANDER, a Canadian/South African film (I think), is a very strange concoction. It’s a good cop/bad cop story (only in this case it’s the same cop) that takes place in South Africa during horrifying racial unrest. Stander (Thomas Jane, fresh from his muscular THE PUNISHER role), a policeman, kills a Black during a riot in a Capetown township. Filled with horrible remorse for this act plus the fact that Capetown ignores crimes to keep the Blacks in order, he decides to become a bank robber!!?? After getting caught he breaks out of prison with a mate, and the two of them break out a third guy. The three of them form a very successful bank-robbing gang. Director Bronwen Hughes uses background media telecasts to good result and Stander’s ability to disguise himself is loads of fun, but the personal relationships in the film are somewhat lackluster. Jane, a very attractive fellow, seems willing to take off all his clothes at the drop of a hat, as there are four in-the-buff scenes with him. I would guess that a straight male director would not have done this, but I’m not complaining. Deborah Kara Unger (one of my favorite actors), as Stander’s wife, is totally wasted in her part. She’s much better at edgier roles. 3 CATS”
Diane says: “Very well done. I laughed, I cried, I never knew where it was going. Had I seen STANDER earlier, I would have nom’ed David O’Hara for his role as Allan Heyl–he sure knows how to wear aviator glasses. It’s true what Thom says about the protag disrobing: one more of a small coterie of films with full frontal shots of men but not women. Stander took off his clothes so often that I was starting to worry about the director. Perhaps it was an element of his sociopathology. Those of us who watched it last night are very curious to see how the movie jibes with the real story of this cop gone bad. 4 cats.”
Bruce says: Right off the bat we know that Stander is a loose canon. We see him behind the wheel racing through the streets like a stuntman, endangering everyone in his path. He is stopped by the police and recognized as an officer. He is waved on through. Shortly he reaches his destination. A crime scene? No, a wedding reception for his best friend and comrade in the police department.
“STANDER is the story of Andre Stander (Thomas Jane), a respected policeman who snaps when he shoots a young black man who is protesting the use of Afrikaans in teaching black children. The incident occurs in a town near Soweto while Stander is assigned to riot control. The scene is masterful, a joy to watch. Demonstrators are severely beaten as they march towards the police line, dogs are provoked to maul demonstrators, film is confiscated, tear gas explodes, police fire from circling helicopters and the tension of the event is recorded on faces of both the demonstrators and the police. This scene is the subject of a Sundance Channel ‘Anatomy of a Scene’ documentary which is a bonus on the DVD. Be sure to see it after the film. It offers great insight into the collaborative efforts of directing, editing and filming.
“Most men would break down in entirely different ways than Stander, such as ending up comatose in a psych ward, developing an abusive streak or turning to substance abuse. Stander begins to rob banks not long after he returns to his regular detective work. The first robbery is done on a hunch, one of those spur of the moment decisions. The robberies that follow are not so spontaneous. After robbing the banks Stander often heads up the investigation baffling bank employees who describe the robber as a man who looks just like him.
“Donning one clever (and sometimes silly) disguise after another, Stander robs 26 banks before he is caught by his best friend and is sent to prison. There he becomes friends with two other guys, Allen Heyl (David O’Hara) and Lee McCall (Dexter Fletcher). Heyl escapes with Stander and the two audaciously go back to free McCall. The three become known as the Stander Gang as they stage 20 more robberies. Some are laughably daring. During this time the film begins to falter a bit. The gang appears to take on an Ocean’s Eleven type of air which lessens the film’s believability.
“Stander, now the most wanted man in South Africa, sneaks back to visit his father, a retired general who loves his son but wants him captured, and his wife (Deborah Kara Unger) who no longer wants anything to do with him. Thomas Janes is magnificent as a man who, although psychologically unraveled, remains shrewd and cunning. The rest of the cast compliment him well. STANDER is an action film, a caper film and, above all, a serious drama about a man who develops a conscience in a country with a calloused and self-serving leadership. 4.5 cats”