Stander (2004)

Having resided in the Transvaal during the 80s when the 'Stander Gang' rode the high veldt while pillaging and robbing banks at every turn they maneuvered their 1982 Ford Cortina XR6 Interceptor, I can safely vouch now and from a great distance, that the historicity of the film is somewhat accurate. Well, with some minor reservations...But I won't say the same for the 'tone', make that, theme. This film, which had the potential to be gute South African cinema was cast almost entirely with a huge liberal bent; way too much PC for my liking. To wit, the director tries hard, maybe even succeeds (with unsuspecting viewers) to portray Andre Stander, former S.A. Police detective, now turned hoodlum/mayhem master as a black benefactor. Make no mistake: the real Stander was no such thing. On the contrary, he was an opportunist; he only sought avenues for quick, easy plunder. It came in the form of easy pickings; always in the form of robbing banks; sometimes his gang knocked over four branches a day. Some twice!And Stander always enjoyed the fruits of his labors. He had a penchant for fast cars: the likes of several yellow Porsche Carerras hardly escaped his lusting eyes. The same can be said for the other forms of ostentatious debauchery: fast women, probably drugs, clubbing and wining and dining in the trendy Joburg suburbs of Mayfair and Sandton; just to name a few.But Stander had help. The South African media also had a penchant for debauchery. Their non-stop 24/7 coverage no doubt fanned the flames of this budding myth. As if scripted, Stander and his gang would never disappoint either. At the hint of a hot lead or the attraction of a pretty, young teller longing for her 15 minutes of fame, the infamous gang would always burst on the scene. As expected, the media hounds never missed a scent and the chance to further expound the bank robbers meteoric rise to stardom.More often than naught, the brazen robbers were well received in the newspapers as well as on the S.A.B.C. TV channels. Both of them. The Gang, was now officially the Republik's own version of Robin Hood; but the motley trio was never given a 'merry band of fellows' moniker though.Thomas Jane gives a good/bad account of the main man: Andre Stander. His two accomplices, Allan Heyl and Lee McCall were well portrayed as well; so were the entire supporting cast members and extras. The sets of 70s/80s Joburg were expertly re-constructed: all too eerily, realistic.Ofter during the viewing, I felt s strong longing to return home. But not back to the future...

This is a gritty and realistic crime movie based on a true story. In any country, the plot of this movie would be interesting: police captain Andre Stander (played by Thomas Jane) turns not just into a bank robber, but into his country's most notorious bank robber. He's caught, of course, but then escapes and goes on a daring spree with his gang.What makes this movie even better is its remarkable sense of time and place. It is set in apartheid South Africa in the 1970s and the director must have gone to extraordinary lengths to recreate that world for the viewer. The scene of the 1976 riot in Tembisa is particularly striking. It's worth seeing this movie for that scene alone.The director may have presented us with a somewhat romanticised view of Stander. His off-again on-again relationship with Bekkie (played by Deborah Kara Unger) is depicted as central in Stander's life. Is it true that Stander had political motives? Or regret for his actions in Tembisa? According to crime reporter Rob Marsh, some think Stander killed more than one person at Tembisa and he may have been involved in two rapes.The two leads put in fine performances. Obviously they worked hard on perfecting their South African accents. (In general it's remarkable that this most South African of movies was made by Americans with North American actors.) O'Hara's performance as the unreliable gang member was particularly good. Fletcher and Taylor were also very good.Jane and Unger are an attractive couple. Take note Thomas Jane fans: there are extended scenes in this movie of Jane shirtless and au naturel.Craig Hunter of TheHollywoodNews.com is right about this movie. He recently wrote, "My pick to show just how good an actor (Thomas James) is has to the be criminally under-seen crime biopic STANDER. A truly awesome film from Bronwen Hughes with Jane as South African cop-turned-crook Andre Stander. Get it seen people!" That's a remarkable thing for a film reviewer to write nine years after a movie was made.

If you're a solid citizen with a firm belief in the rule of law, the important role and trust given to officers of that law, you will find this film arduous to watch from beginning to end. The lead character is a truly flawed personality so much so that he is oblivious to long standing police culture and glaring lessons of right and wrong played out daily as a part of his job. It is really the obverse of a "Butch Cassidy" theme and while the Stander gang become darlings of the press as the film evolves, their families, lives and states of mind deteriorate is a very short while (6 months) as they are absorbed into the twisted mind and perception of their leader, Andre Stander. It is a truly biblical ending "the wages of sin are death", and it is expertly brought out by the director. There was no glossing over or glamorizing of anything and no relief whatsoever from the glaring wrong/betrayal of trust perpetrated by Stander. You were simply unable to root for the bad guys in this film and could only standby as the inevitable pursuit and capture, and final lessons were affirmed. A terrible beauty.

OK so imagine pitching this story to a Hollywood exec. A young police officer flips and becomes his country's most notorious bank robber. Seems rather far fetched but it happened in South Africa in the late 1970s/early 1980s when Police Captain Andre Stander became his country's most famous bank robber and is pretty faithfully retold in this film, although a few details are left out.Thomas Jane excels in the leading role and it's kind of hard to think that this is the same guy who played cardboard cut out Carter in Deep Blue Sea and unlike most Americans playing South Africans (particularly Afrikaners) hits the accent perfectly as does the extremely beautiful and talented Canadian Deborah Kara Unger as Stander's estranged wife Bekkie.South Africa itself makes a fantastic backdrop to the film, from the rich Johannesburg suburbs, the black shanty towns and the wide sweeping landscapes. Against this though however is the grittiness of Stander's crimes and imprisonment filmed brilliantly and the film's standout scene a reconstruction of the 1976 riots which will make your stomach turn. It also stays faithful to the period and the ways of life under Apartheid and if anything shows how a corrupt system can turn it's most loyal subjects.