A way to go for some Low-Budget Movies is to have a Confined or Closed Environment. The thing Is, if You go that way, the Characters and the Actors have to be on Their game or the whole thing collapses under its own restraint.In this one the Setting is an Abandoned, Run Down Farmhouse in Rural Texas. The Backdrop of the Story is a WACO like Raid on a Nut-Case Religious Cult and some FBI Agents are Caught in the Crossfire and Holed-Up, Waiting for the Calvary.The Cast is a Good One with Dennis Haysbert, Keith Carradine, and Natasha Henstridge (fully clothed). The Headliner is Robert Sean Leonard, whose Film Career Stalled early on and He went to TV. The Interaction, Anxiety, and Paranoia of the Agents and Their two Cult Captives (both Women) are what's at hand here and it is a fine Dramatization of a Stressful Situation where Everyone Comes Unglued.There is some Strong Violence and the Players have the Chops to make this work. The Plot may be Predictable or Not, but the Ending is Not the Big Noise in This One. It is a Character Study and the Script is a Good One for a Low-Budget Standoff.This Virtually Unseen Movie that Captivates with the Crackerjack Cast and the Dialog. There are frequent Shootings In between the Character Confrontations and Overall it's Worth a Watch for some Good Acting and a very Tense "Pulled From the Headlines" Scenario.

I kinda enjoyed "Standoff (1998)" even though it wasn't the least original. A bunch of FBI agents storm the headquarters of a deeply religious cult Waco-stylee.But the operation - which we never see, only in flashbacks - goes wrong and two of the agents, played by Robert Sean Leonard and Dennis Haysbert, get away. Sounds an awful lot like "Reservoir Dogs (1992)" doesn't it?They hide in an old house with the vicious trigger happy cult members lurking outside. Soon more people, a couple of other guys who are also fighting the cult, show up. They don't like each other at first, but they all have to work together to survive and fight enemy outside. Sounds an awful lot like "Night Of The Living Dead (1968)" doesn't it?And in the basement of this house they find more people, who also hide from the danger outside. Gee, for some reason that's sound very familiar... I've heard that somewhere before, wonder what it could be... Oh yeah, it's "Night Of The Living Dead (1968)" again.From there, more things happen, problems appear and everything seems hopeless. I can't go on about the plot without spewing spoilers all over the place, so I'll stop right there. Let's just say that if you've even seen only one film in this genre, doesn't really matter which one, you know exactly what's gonna happen and you won't find the ending the least surprising. I spotted that one coming casually from a mile away.What I liked about "Standoff (1998)" was that I, in all its predictability, actually found it sort of exciting. It's like when you're watching a "Die Hard"-movie, you know exactly what's coming (that's about the only resemblance, but give me a break, it's just an example). You know Bruce Willis is gonna blow stuff up, start bleeding, get dirty and sweaty, spit out a decent amount of one-liners and, of course, save the world. But somehow it keeps you on the edge of your seat, anxiously awaiting whatever comes next.What I didn't like was some of the acting, Zeke Clayton was nothing short of being one complete disaster. Cliché and stereotyped anyone? But he was probably told to act the way he did by writer/director Andrew Chapman (son of Michael Chapman, wow!) so won't blame him for this flat performance. And I've never liked Robert Sean Leonard all that much. He reminds me too much of Hugh Grant, and that's about as far away from a compliment you can ever get. They both have that nervous appearance with the stuttering and the blinking and all that. No hard feelings though, I'm sure they're both really nice guys, I just wouldn't mind if they would cast someone else instead.

I basically saw this movie through happenstance, and had no expectations whatsoever. I will admit to being shallow and expressing disappointment at not seeing Natasha Henstidge topless, but besides that, this movie was enjoyable. It has the feel of a converted stageplay, in the sense that it is essentially six people locked in a room for two hours. Maybe I'm completely out to lunch here, but it reminds me of other converted plays like 'twelve angry men' and 'lifeboat'. It definitely has that HBO/Sci Fi Channel feel to it. The acting was solid overall, though not exceptional. The best of the bunch I think was 'Bama'. Also, maybe I'm a tad naieve, but I found the surprise ending to be a big surprise. Maybe I got suckered by it all just like Jamie, the main character did. Hmph. On an overall scale of enjoyment, I'd have to give this a six or so.