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Stand Alone

1985, Movie, R, 94 mins

Stand Alone: Review

Advertised as "the story of a real American hero," STAND ALONE is cut from the same distorted jingoistic cloth as RAMBO: FIRST BLOOD PART II and drags in an ugly stench of xenophobia as well. Louis (Charles Durning) is a WW II vet who witnesses a street-gang killing in a restaurant run by his Army buddy, Paddie (Bert Remsen). Detective Isgro (James Keach) tries to get Louis to identify the murderers, but Louis' attorney, Catherine (Pam Grier), tells him to stay out of the potentially deadly mess. But Louis is not the type to take this lying down. After some thugs beat up Paddie, he arms himself to the teeth and boobytraps his home. Sure enough, the bad guys show up. STAND ALONE takes a simplistic stance, showing all the good characters as outstanding citizens and the bad guys as dangerous madmen. For the most part, good is equated with white (with the notable exception of Grier and a black detective), while the psychotic criminals are non-English-speaking Latin-Americans. It's implied that the outlaws are illegal Cuban immigrants, but this is no justification for the blatant prejudice the film wraps its patriotic message around. STAND ALONE is a repulsive, hate-filled effort that blasphemies the true meaning of patriotism. leave a comment