"Standby" is a British 6-minute live action short film that was released this year (2017) and managed some solid awards recognition for writer and director Charlotte Regan that made it her most known work at this point I guess. It was nominated for a BAFTA and takes us into the lives of two police officers during the time when they are a team. It all takes place in the car and shows us their professional lives that are sometimes also impacted by their personal lives like the joy/sadness scene involving the female officer. The cast here are not too well-known, at least not to me, but that's not a problem as the two do a pretty solid job nonetheless. It's easy to like them and care for them in here despite how short this one was. The ending was a bit of a bummer, but it wasn't too bad either. Pretty sure it was not supposed to show he dislikes his new partner, but that the two had to make a connection first and also that he misses his old partner perhaps. Honestly, this was a really simple film without any meaningful spectacular happening, but just life with the police. Close call if I'd recommend the watch here, but I guess I'll be generous and give it a thumbs-up. This was a simple idea executed competently. Go check it out.
3 Reviews
Effective in the construction, editing, and delivery
bob the moo29 March 2017
Occurring entirely within a police car, this is a comedic tale of two beat bobbies and their relationship. The relationship is delivered in scenes of only 3-10 seconds in the most part, and they are edited together in a way that is tight but still effective. On the face of it the story and the film is quite a simple one, but the stress on the delivery is significant. The pressure to make every scene work and do so in such a short time – and for each scene to be part of a whole. It is impressive then that this pulls it off so well.
The film has a great snap to it, mixing moments of humor, annoyance, and emotion, all of which show a changing relationship between the two, but doesn't spend a lot of time doing any one thing. Some of the individual scenes maybe are not as strong as others, but at a few seconds each, it really doesn't matter. Performances are all on- point, and it is a nice touch that the male actor was a mainstay in the ITV show The Bill for so many years. Small, quick, but effective, well worth a look.
The film has a great snap to it, mixing moments of humor, annoyance, and emotion, all of which show a changing relationship between the two, but doesn't spend a lot of time doing any one thing. Some of the individual scenes maybe are not as strong as others, but at a few seconds each, it really doesn't matter. Performances are all on- point, and it is a nice touch that the male actor was a mainstay in the ITV show The Bill for so many years. Small, quick, but effective, well worth a look.
beautiful
Kirpianuscus24 March 2019
The idea of comprimated time for a touching, energetic story is far to be original. But it is working and this is the most important thing. Two bobbies in a police car. Simple gestures, sparkles of dialogue. Days, weeks, events. Caffes and cake and tears and hug. The routtine. Seductive for out words motifs. A lovely short film, wise hommage to life, example of precise cinematography and high art of storytelling.
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