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	Stander
	Bronwen Hughes Thomas Jane, Ashley Taylor, David Patrick O'Hara, Dexter Fletcher, Deborah Unger, Marius Weyers 2003		Touted as the true story of a South African police captain turned bank robber, "Stander" is a strange brew of crime drama and political statement that warrants consideration. Andre Stander, played by Thomas Jane ("The Punisher"), was a young cop on the rise in the Johannesburg Police Force during the late '70s when apartheid was the law of the land. Then, he was ordered to take part in the riot-squad repression of black demonstrators seeking equal rights in a nearby shantytown. As depicted here, Stander was tormented by complicity in the deaths brought about by this skirmish. His reaction was to start robbing banks. Friends, colleagues and family members, particularly his wife (Deborah Kara Unger) and his father (Marius Weyers), were shocked. Knocking over banks was a rather extreme brand of civil disobedience, and Stander was so good at it and so stylish that he and his accomplices Allan Heyl (David Patrick O'Hara) and Lee McCall (Dexter Fletcher) became folk heroes. But this is no feel-good fairy tale. It's a noble attempt to address the far-reaching ramifications of an oppressive class system. With so much on the line, "Stander" doesn't always hang together. It's kept on track by Jane, a charismatic actor in a complex role, and director Bronwen Hughes, who makes a major leap from the frivolity of her previous film, the Sandra Bullock-Ben Affleck comedy "Forces of Nature."


	Wednesday, December 18, 2024





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