STANDOFF is an astonishingly bad Canadian B-movie thriller which only seems to have gathered positive reviews on this site, which is a surprise; it's one of the most turgid I've seen in a while. The problems are entirely down to the writing, which is far below standard and quite laughable. The singularly non-menacing Laurence Fishburne plays a random assassin who kills a bunch of people at a funeral in the laughable opening sequence. An annoying girl witnesses his crimes and flees to a local farmhouse, where a slumming-it Thomas Jane protects her. The rest of the film consists of Jane sitting on his landing conversing with Fishburne who is at the foot of the stairs. The dialogue takes a philosophical bent but there's no suspense here, no tension, just a slow pace and nothing happening for ten, twenty, then thirty and forty minutes, aside from an extra getting tortured. It's mind-crushingly boring.

Carter (Thomas Jane) is a depressed farmer who has lost his son. His wife has left him. Meanwhile, during a funeral, Isabelle (Ella Ballentine) witnesses a multiple murder, but fails to stay hid from the killer (Laurence Fishburne). She is pursued and finds refuge in the farmhouse of Carter, who has an armed standoff with Sade, the killer. Both are injured and neither one wants to give ground as the film digresses to two grown men throwing barbs at each other with some occasional new characters.

While the film was well done for what it was, it was a standoff film which in itself projects boredom. Even the characters fell asleep during the film. 6 stars unless you are really into Mexican sweat.

Guide: F-bomb. No sex or nudity.

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!