Hughes mixes consciousness with callousness.
Surely there must be an existing alternative version to the verse “the law won†from The Clash’s classic “I Fought the Lawâ€. If there is one, it may hail from the volatile state and a seldom visited part of the globe where a gang of gentlemen robbers made bank hold-ups look like taking candy from a baby. Clipped out from Johannesburg’s newspaper headlines, director Bronwen Hughes’ biopic examines one man’s new perspective of apartheid in South African. Fuelled by his own sense of guilt and complete disgust for the system, the man (Thomas Jane – Dreamcatcher) known as Stander decided that he would no longer be a bystander to his emotions. Giving very little thought to early retirement, the officer slips on a stache and plays the part of a modern day Robin Hood who manages to help out at least one person from the “other†race.
Filmed in a grainy tinted look, Hughes has difficulty in forging the somewhat interesting character development with the unnecessary caper entertainment. While the notion of a multi-faced outlaw and ballsy bank robberies proves to be a fascinating one and certainly merits some big-screen mention, it also administers a blow against the better part intial first half of the film. The film’s unexpected opening and the character’s personal awakening does more for the film than the distracting hybrid of car-chases, bank robberies and dopey sex-scenes. Jane proves to be a solid choice in the lead; he manages to add a degree of likeability and rawness to his character.
The problem area remains the shift in tone; the abandonment of serious subject matter in favor for some swagger shows a lack of imagination in the script department. What makes Stander partially deficient is that the character is shown to have plenty of nerve but the film’s style lacks in vitality. The dramatic areas don’t gouge deep enough into the character’s psyche, the apartheid gets shelved as simple wallpaper while the bank robbery sequences come across with some Dukes of Hazard comedic flair. There are plenty of films about untypical thieves, unfortunately Stander is an example of the good criminal that needn’t a story to screen introduction – when the narrative runs out of fuel so does our interest in the protagonist’s fate.
