Top class film!A young girl witnesses a "hit" and is trapped in a house with the killer who is out to eliminate her, but could be saved by an ex military man.Laurence Fishburne plays the maniac hit-man....he surely has no soul; Thomas Jane is the former soldier, suicidal for family reasons but determined to do right; Ella Ballentine is the unlucky girl with all sorts of life threatening problems...This is a tense well scripted movie, with excellent direction.The 3 main players give show stopping performances!8/10.

"Standoff" was expected to be a cheaper than average chase "B" Film. It is not! This was an unexpectedly super solid, entertaining and a taut crime thriller. It is not an action movie in anyway and instead a limited location crime thriller with super solid performances from Jane and Fishburne. Jane has an unexpected emotional performance as a grieving dad protecting this young gal who comes to him for help. The girl played by Ella Ballentine is way above average in her performance as the girl on the run being pursued by an evil Fishburne as an assassin.The limited locations of a graveyard and Jane's home works in its favor. In many ways, this is a character piece about 2 people and the standoff. It is a little different and way more dramatic than the "B" movie advertising. I TRULY enjoyed this and was way more emotionally connected to these characters than I ever dreamed I would be. Overall, a fine little movie with 2 really great actors and Ballentine delivering a performance that really made you care about the fate of this young lady. I would highly recommend this film and hope to see more lower budget movies that look this well filmed & directed with a focus more on the story than is typically created nowadays in films with limited theatrical releases.

I was on the fence about seeing this film, but I'm glad I did. First of all I have to say i completely disagree with the negative reviews for this movie. After all, the reason we go see movies is to escape reality and come out with a different perspective on life (or we should anyway) than try to figure out if the plot or premise of a film is believable or not. Star Wars or Star Trek don't have a believable premise either but we love to watch'em. This movie, although completely different than a Sci-Fi film, is well worth watching from a psychological point of view alone. People make films. And just like people, all films have flaws even the high budget theatrical releases. I watched this film before I even knew it was a strictly video release and the director was popping his cherry for the first time. But considering either of these, I have to give credit where credit is due and say this movie was really good. It was more positive than negative that's for sure.

This movie was not what I had expected it to be. But it turned out better than what was assumed for it.It was basically a killer versus a bystander who got mixed into the wrong mess. Laurence Fishburne plays the role of the killer Sade. Thomas Jane pays the role of the bystander Carter. Carter had stumbled upon a girl, nick- named Bird, played by Ella Ballentine, who had lost both of her parents, and just witnessed the rest of her family be shot and killed in cold blood by Sade. She takes pictures of Sade, and then she runs through the woods to make her way for help.Once Bird makes it to the first house she sees, Carter is there to help her. He did not know her, but he felt obligated to protect her from Sade. His gun ammo was low; it consisted of a total of two rounds. He had to do whatever it took to protect Bird form Sade.The movie was mainly Carter and Bird on the second floor of the house, and Sade was on the main floor of the house. Neither would dare to go up nor down the stairs because he knew the other was waiting there to shoot. So it was a waiting game to see who would make a mistake. It also was a tactical mind set. Tricks would be implemented in order to try and make a move on the other.This movie took risk with how it played out the "standoff", but it was worth it. It was a different type of setting, and it was interesting for its small setting.