Stander
Release Date:
August 6, 2004
Limited release
Based on a true story, Stander's title comes from its main character's last name. Andre Stander was a white police captain in the homicide/robbery division in a South African city in the early 1980s. After participating in a brutal killing during a riot while on duty, Stander suffers a crisis of conscience and determines that he will defy the apartheid system that he has been a part of for so long. During his lunch hours, he would rob banks, and then once back at work he would return to the scene to head up the investigation into the crime.
Eventually, Stander is caught and jailed. While there, he made friends with a couple of other prisoners, Allan Heyl and Lee McCall. The three bust out of jail and commit increasingly daring robberies as "the Stander Gang." As time goes on, their crimes grow more and more brash, but rather than the end result being ostracism by society, their patent disregard for authority made them infamous Robin Hood-esque celebrities in South Africa.
Playing the lead role of Stander is The Punisher himself, Thomas Jane. Newmarket, the distributor of 2004, will handle the film's release. After playing at the 2003 Toronto International Film Festival, the film has already received a fair amount of critical attention, which Newmarket should be able to channel into a fairly successful small-scale run. (Kim Hollis/BOP)
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