Review of Stander

Stander (2003)
7/10
very good, and based on a true story
7 July 2016
Warning: Spoilers
"Stander" is the true story of Andre Stander, who was a police captain turned notorious bank robber in South Africa. The story goes that he participated in killing during a riot and in the line of duty and became disillusioned. In real life, he wasn't present during that riot. Some people think he simply became bored with what he was doing.

Stander(Thomas Jane) decided to rob banks, sometimes during his lunch hour, and he was pretty good at it - so good that he could return to the bank later as the investigating officer. Eventually, his own comrades on the force caught him and he went to prison. There he met Allan Heyl (David O'Hara) and Lee McCall (Dexter Fletcher). After they escaped, they worked together in the robberies and became the most wanted men in the country.

What was so good about this film is that it displayed the incredible audacity of these men and especially Stander - the prison breakout, the robberies, stealing cars - remarkable and in plain sight.

The acting is superb. Thomas Jane is an American and I have to agree to comments about the accent - it was excellent. He portrayed a good-looking, disillusioned young man with a gorgeous wife who was looking for a different kind of high. He enjoyed going against the system, and one could tell that from the performance. The other actors were excellent as well.

Allan Heyl, by the way, was paroled in 2005.

A very exciting and absorbing film, sometimes outrageous, sometimes funny, sometimes poignant, and sometimes sad.
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