Stander 2003 ***

Bronwen Hughes directed this entertaining police drama, with the story torn from the headlines o 1980’s South Africa. Stander (Thomas Jane) is a tough cop who becomes disillusioned with  life under apartheid. His reaction was to form the Stander gang, a high-profile team of bank robbers taking on the system and winning. Jane is an often overlooked talent who throws himself into the role, sporting crazy fashions and a variety of moustaches and sideburn combinations, with support from David O’Hara and Dexter Fletcher. Stander is a tall tale, executed with style, and it’s one of the few films about apartheid that avoid preachiness and look at the local complexities of the issues involved.