The Standoff

obviously, the people who made this short film were fond of french film-noir films! this was a pretty decent short film, it had a suprising # of plot twists for such a short running time. the actor who played the criminal really stole the show, he had some good one-liners. the director of photography was also quite good, it really had some of the best lighting i've ever seen in a short film.

I caught this film at a local film festival and was impressed. Great suspense, characters and action. The Standoff had a high production value, that is often not seen in independent short films. Joe Granato is devious in the lead role as a psychopath... He works well spewing dialogue that would make most people cringe. This film certainly wasn't for kids... it also had a cool plot twist at the end. Michael Dunn's acting was great, but its his directing that is damn incredible! The tension builds quickly and the action sequences are edited with a rythmic pace (not unlike an music video). Just great filmmaking, I just wish the film was longer (a feature in the near future?!?!)