The Standoff (2016)

The Standoff is a 2016 comedy film directed by Ilyssa Goodman, written by Leigh Dunlap, and stars Olivia Holt, Ryan McCartan, Alex Wolff, and the Merell Twins. It released directly to DVD and Digital on September 20, 2016 in the United States, and in Australia the following year.

Synopsis
At Big Jim’s Auto Depot there’s only one rule. The last man – or woman – standing wins. Eight teens enter, one teen leaves. Actually, all eight teens leave, but only one leaves with the ride of their dreams. To reach that dream, they’re going through a nightmare. Keep your hand on the car. That sounds simple enough, but two days of sleep deprivation and fierce competition can make things awfully hard. Amy (Olivia Holt) and Farrell (Ryan McCartan) are two local teens who find themselves up against the toughest field of competitors to ever stand around a car lot. So who’s it going to be? Who will win The Standoff?

Why It Sucks

 * 1) The acting is horrendous, probably because of the material given to them. In fact, the Merrell twins, infamously known for their YouTube Rewind 2018 appearances, play roles in this movie.
 * 2) Almost none of the characters are likable in the slightest for most of the film. They are all either narcissistic, irritating, unfunny, jealous, hypocritical, cruel. In the case of Lala Zzyzx, she is nothing more than a shallow and blatant Mary Sue and know it all.
 * 3) Terrible editing, especially for the rapping cat scene.
 * 4) Every single pop culture reference has zero context in the story.
 * 5) It contains some of the most laughable dialogue of all time, including, but not limited to:
 * 6) * "I love athletes. They're so athletic"
 * 7) * "You're hot, like my mom"
 * 8) * "Thousands of people die each year from playing ping pong"
 * 9) On that note, even though this is supposed to be aimed at kids, they for some reason have the guts to throw in a creep joke, involving a character accidentally saying that they romantically love their mother. Why would a line like this be appropriate for a kids movie?
 * 10) The love interest stuff has no reason to exist in the story, and they're only put in there just because.
 * 11) The plot is really cliched, especially since it tries to use every single cliche in the book when it comes to movies like these. It even includes the horribly executed "Second Act Breakups" trope, twice. Both of which just, well, happen, just because.
 * 12) There is tons of product placement, especially for social media.
 * 13) Almost none of the jokes land at all.
 * 14) There is a plot hole, which never explains how Klyde Kosar managed to get out of the bathroom via the toilet, when toilet holes are too small for any human, even a baby, to fit through.

Redeeming Qualities

 * 1) The ending is decent, which involves the main duo both winning the car and driving along the same road as seen at the start of the movie.
 * 2) Some of the characters do get character development, despite being mostly minimal.
 * 3) The songs aren't too bad.
 * 4) Big Jim and Fo the Dog are some of the only remotely likable characters in the entire movie, especially the latter. On that note, they're the only ones who can pull off good performances.
 * 5) Speaking of those characters, the jokes involving Big Jim and Fo are the only ones that actually make proper sense. In fact, they're stupid enough to be considered comical.