Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

The first must-see film of the year.

Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Isabelle 'Bird' Morgan (Ella Ballentine) is visiting her parents' grave when a masked assassin comes out of the woods to stage a massacre. Bird is hidden and photographs the killer Sade (Laurence Fishburne) unmasked. He chases her into Carter Green (Thomas Jane)'s home. It's a standoff as Sade is unwilling to let Bird live. Carter is upstairs with a quail gun and only one shell. He is also haunted by his own tragic loss.The setup is OK but I'm not sure about Sade being so nonchalant with his mask off. It makes little sense that he spends the time covering the grave. He should have been setting up a fire in the house when Carter makes that nice move with the film. There are things that could have ratcheted up the tension. Carter could have set his own fire as a warning signal. Instead of action, this becomes more of a back and forth stage play. The intensity never really takes off although it simmers at a good low boil.

It's a great movie. Simple plot, excellent acting,Fisborne is at his best he plays the perfect acting he plays the part of the evil villain all badass all evil just a great flick. Suspenseful kept me engaged. The sign of a good movie is when you forget the actors and believe the characters. When the script is so exciting and the acting was great. I actually cared about the characters in the movie. The movie looked great. The scenes were well designed. You didn't know now a lot about the characters but that didn't matter. I was emotionally engaged in the movie. Loved it. Not many smart movies made t today. They mostly suck, but this movie was a bit of fresh air. No fake over the top special effects needed.

Just beyond the opening scenes, Standoff quickly rises above its cheapness as an enjoyable and gripping suspense thriller. Then we're treated to an old breed of filmmaking that hasn't been this well-done since the likes of Misery! I love both headlining actors dearly but they've unfairly fallen off the radar in recent years. I still buy into their efforts on occasion despite bitter reviews, though, because budget does not always make for a great movie. In this case, it hits the spot.So an ex-military man turned mafia hit-man hunts the sole witness of a multiple murder - a young girl with a camera - to a lonely farmhouse inhabited by a grieving alcoholic. Literally this is the premise and the scene is set for a siege and an edgy war of wits as one tries to convince the other to let him have the girl and walk away.Sometimes that's all you need; no winding plot twists to keep people guessing. Sometimes it's just about the suspense and the viscera, but Standoff benefits from a great script and the skills of the director who also wrote it.It has an old-school feel to it, and when we get down to it, even the look of the film harks back to a day of shamelessly simple effectiveness.Fishburne is on top form as the villain, bringing the ghetto mentality of former villainous roles from the likes of King of New York and Assault on Precinct 13. He's sharper than ever, bursting with character and both smouldering and cold-blooded.Thomas Jane also throws in his strongest performance in a long time and his man on the edge versus the man on a deadline is both genius acting and writing at once. They don't make characters like this anymore. Back in the '70s or '80s the role could have belonged to Lee Marvin, James Coburn or Roy Scheider.I'm surprised and saddened that Standoff isn't getting recognition. It deserves a round of applause!

As a fan of Thomas Jane and Lawrence Fishburne, I wanted to like this movie. However, what seemed to be pitched as a battle of wits turned into an hour and half screaming match between the two actors. The movie is basically Jane attempting to keep a little girl from being killed by Fishburne with his last shotgun shell. The two of them spend the whole movie yelling insults and cursing at each other, with very little happening in between. The script tries to add some story by telling giving Jane's character a tragic backstory, but it really doesn't do much to keep the plot moving. The best part of the movie is the little girl. Ella Ballentine has some definite talent, and finding out what happens to her is the only reason to finish watching the movie. This young actor adds a weariness and "old soul" quality to her character that makes her seem wiser beyond her years. While pitched as a battle of wits, this is more of a pissing contest between two stubborn men. If that's your thing, then go for it.