2021 Larry Prater Award for Best Viewing
The first ever Larry Prater Award goes to The Standoff at Sparrow Creek, by one-time director Henry Dunham. Filmed on a shoestring budget ($450,000) and starring James Badge Dale, Chris Mulkey, Patrick Fischler and a merry band of what’s-his-face guys from other movies you’ve already seen, The Standoff at Sparrow Creek is a tense, minimalist movie that exudes paranoid energy. It masterfully blends thriller, locked-room mystery, neo-noir and elements of science fiction into one intoxicating cocktail.
Henry Dunham’s savant usage of nighttime lighting and shadows bathes the atmosphere of his film into an otherworldly glow that alters the dynamic between the protagonists. The six militia men brought together in the small lumber warehouse by a betrayal could be in Guantanamo or in outer space, they couldn’t feel any more alone and vulnerable. Through strong dialogue, killer performances from underdog actors and a creative use of lighting, Dunham turned a warehouse into a symbolic purgatory.
It was a close race between The Standoff at Sparrow and Michael Sarnoski’s Pig, but the former stood out through its ingenuity. Both are quite simple movies, but Henry Dunham’s film has an inimitable cachet. It’s the type of film you used to catch on late night television and spent years obsessing over because you never thought of writing down the title. I live to find movies like this one. They embody what this website is about and that it why I proudly award it the first ever Larry Prater Award.
