blanche-2 "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.

kobusx10 Stander is my favorite movie that nobody seems to know about (even most South Africans).Of all the useless shallow, and meaningless drivel that Hollywood serves up, you would think that an exceptional film like Stander would at least get some recognition.Well, the marketing was just horrible I guess. I tried to get some of my American friends to watch the movie but I didn't have a copy with me, so I looked up the trailer so they could get some idea of what it's about. The only result of this being that we decided that it was the worst movie trailer we'd ever seen.The story of a white, South African police captain who decides to rob banks, set to the backdrop of 70's Apartheid Johannesburg would be a great story on it's own if it were fictional, but incredibly it's a true story. And if you go do some research you will find that the script very accurately follows the original story (with a few additions here and there to help the flow of the film).It's hard to say what is the best aspect of this film, but if I were forced to point out one thing it would be the way that 70's Johannesburg was recreated. From the old cars to the original bank names and crazy hairstyles. The cinematography is also done in such a way that the color is a bit faded out. This makes you feel like you are watching some classic bank robbery movie from the seventies. As a South African myself I found the recreation extremely accurate and detailed, especially for a Canadian film company and director. Johannesburg even looked cleaner, because right now Jo'burg is quite a dirty city.As far as acting goes you never like to see a foreigner playing one of your own countrymen, but Thomas Jane completely blows you away with the best performance of his career. He had the challenge of portraying one of the most complex movie-characters I'd ever encountered and adding to this he also had to put on a very strong South African accent. I couldn't even believe that this was the same man who played the 'Die Hard'-style action hero in 'Deep Blue See'. His accent is close to flawless, much better than Leonardo in 'Blood Diamond' or Tim Robbins.Thomas Jane is also supported by a strong group of supporting actors. The Canadian actress, Kara Unger plays Stander's wife, a character almost as complex as Stander himself and the interaction of the couple is well portrayed. The two other members of the 'Stander Gang' make the movie that much more enjoyable as they bring even more complexity but also humour. The rest of the cast is all South African and this adds to the realism in the film. Most notable of the South African performances are Stander's father, played by Marius Weyers, and Stander's friend in the police force, Captain Cor van Deventer.Stander, in the end is the story of a man in conflict with the world around him, the mistakes of his past and the random cruelty he sees happening all around him. This is a recurring theme emphasized by the line, "The wrong ones do keep dying".I found that I was rooting for Stander all the way, other than in 'Public Enemies' where I had no sympathy for the selfish behaviour of the main character at all.I could keep rambling on about how good the film is but in the end I just want people to spend the 5 dollars and buy the film from Ebay or Itunes, or borrow it from a friend. You will not be disappointed! A warning for sensitive viewers, the riot scenes in Soweto are very graphic and realistic.

Carson Trent The true story of South African police officer who, while protecting the law and the order of the British occupation force, during the Soveto riot has a violent encounter with an African protester but also with his conscience after killing him. While his system of values falls apart he comes to realize that he cannot live in ignorance any more and chooses to cross to the other side of the law by robbing banks. In fact it's the account of a man who had everything by common set standards and on a date with destiny loses it ironically(or not) at the same moment in time that seals his fate when he realizes that his very existence stands for what he increasingly learns to hate. This is when he willingly chooses to go down the road of self discovery and ultimately self destruction. The action sequences are brisk; Thomas Jane delivers a solid performance, mastering both the accent and the portrayal of the powerful personality Andre Stander possessed; Deborah Kara Unger is sizzling hot as Bekki Stander; and the ending becomes symbolic upon reflection on the relationship between destiny and fatality.A true to life invitation to question our part in this world and a glimpse into how our inertia dictated actions can change the course of our lives in a split-second far away from Hollywood's vision on how to manage an uncomfortable subject.

kg584 Since my original post 14 months have gone by and I finally broke down and purchased a copy of the DVD on line for 4.99 plus shipping, a very inexpensive rate and just watched it this morning. Considering how films usually butcher the facts this was really 90% accurate.I found the sound a minor problem, had to turn it up several times to hear what was being said.In the trailer I noted his wife had committed suicide in 1990, that was very sad, must have been hard on her and his father also.Those little things which were wrong (but still enjoyable) were: 1) His death was not as shown, 2) The airport scene where he was stopped and then let go did not happen, 3) The passport used to leave SA was obtained differently and was actually that of an a SAA employee named Harris, 4) The film did not show the prison he was in at the time he escaped (Zonderwater, N. of Pretoria) and the shop scenes where he worked were not accurate as they had no such elaborate shop facilities at Z.I don't intend to be picky, I did like the film and will watch it again soon. No film sticks exactly to facts but this one was darn close and the changes probably made for a better film.I'm not sure it ever made it to a general release in the US, just some film shows here and there and I haven't seen it on cable either. Go to ebay and get yourself a copy it is worth it.