A five-minute cop show (SLVimeo)
March 24, 2017 9:05 AM   Subscribe

Standby is a BAFTA-nominated film (From the original site) "Gary and Jenny share the same cramped “office space” as all beat cops: the front seat of a patrol car. Their evolving relationship is an emotional rollercoaster ride that stands in often-comedic contrast to the procession of thugs and criminals filling the back seat."

In truth, there's a line of dialog that made me wince, but otherwise I enjoyed it: this is a very tightly written, edited, and acted short film that compresses two character arcs into less than 300 seconds.
posted by Mogur (19 comments total) 17 users marked this as a favorite
 
Sorry, less than 340 seconds.
posted by Mogur at 9:06 AM on March 24, 2017


Came across this a couple of days ago... It's really well done. Plus it introduced me to Skepta, so double win.

Which line of dialogue bothered you?
posted by asterix at 9:40 AM on March 24, 2017 [1 favorite]


What he called her when she said she'd only put one candle on the cake rather than immolate the car. I know, by that time they're quite close and friends can get away with stuff, etc.

Like I said, it didn't kill the movie for me, just made me wince.
posted by Mogur at 9:45 AM on March 24, 2017


Cheeky cow?

Is that a much more serious insult than it seems?
posted by jacquilynne at 9:53 AM on March 24, 2017


Being rude to someone is basically the British equivalent of tutoyer-ing them in French.
posted by Busy Old Fool at 10:03 AM on March 24, 2017 [4 favorites]


My ears are English Canadian, no experience with British English to speak of, so this is just a personal reaction. For all I know, it's everyday parlance over there. I just know I'd never say it to anyone in a million years.
posted by Mogur at 10:04 AM on March 24, 2017


I took "cheeky cow" in the same way as if he'd have replied "arsehole." It's the way close friends can talk to each other.
posted by Thorzdad at 10:08 AM on March 24, 2017 [1 favorite]


That was brilliantly paced.
posted by zzazazz at 10:26 AM on March 24, 2017 [2 favorites]


Great video! Thanks for posting, Mogur.

BTW, no screen between the cops and the backseat? Whoa!
posted by Mental Wimp at 10:30 AM on March 24, 2017


Cheeky cow?

Is that a much more serious insult than it seems?


I don't speak fluent British but is cow an insult that is usually applied to men or is it mostly used as a way to disparage women? I can see why that might not kill the movie for Mogur but might make them wince.

I enjoyed this, thanks for posting!
posted by ActingTheGoat at 11:20 AM on March 24, 2017


As per my understanding the roughly equivalent male insult would be "cheeky git." The cow thing can be a really severe insult or one that is played off in humour. The way it was delivered in this video made it mostly palatable.
posted by sardonyx at 11:37 AM on March 24, 2017


If you’re British mock insults are the basic currency of friendship: she’d just called him an old git (metaphorically) so he responded in kind, further cementing the friendship by the exchange.

r/policeuk says that doing a background check on a date will get you fired in short order when the DPS finds out though.
posted by pharm at 12:44 PM on March 24, 2017


(It would have been direct blow if he’d called her a “stupid cow” though: Not the same thing at all.)
posted by pharm at 12:51 PM on March 24, 2017 [1 favorite]


Cheeky Cow is not an insult between friends.
It might be taken as such with strangers, though it very much depends on context.
posted by Burn_IT at 1:04 PM on March 24, 2017 [3 favorites]


That's a man who's spent a lot of time playing a copper.
posted by biffa at 1:45 PM on March 24, 2017


13 years according to Wikipedia!
posted by pharm at 2:03 PM on March 24, 2017


So I was holding my breath, waiting for the ending and assuming that they somehow kill the dog that's shown at the very beginning.

I re-watched it, and now I'm wondering - what did happen to the dog? Is it killed in the line of duty? Is that what happens in the sequence at 1:08?

There's a small blip at 2:00 where the dog re-appears. Am I wrong in thinking it's a police dog?
posted by avoision at 4:51 PM on March 24, 2017


I haven't had a chance to watch it yet, but it sounds like the same conceit as Peter Kay's Car Share and No Activity.
posted by robcorr at 7:36 PM on March 24, 2017


This is delightful.
posted by Joey Michaels at 11:17 AM on March 25, 2017


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