Cop Out

What can you make when all of your friends are either busy or working? you make COP OUT!! From the twisted minds of the creators of S.I.S, this "film" will blow you away!! What it lacks in plot or characters, it makes up for in jokes (hopefully) We took AJs notes from last years film ("...perhaps in the end it comes down to more earnestly told stories striking more of a chord with the judging panel"...) and spat all over them. We refuse to tell a good story and maybe we never will. We at Herms Heroes hope you found this both shocking and offensive❤️

I've got to say this was brilliant and I respect it for a number of reasons that I'll get to later.

A really clever parody of the old "You wouldn't steal a film" piracy warnings that most of us would use the remote to skip. Some hilarious set pieces are set up within it and it all happens so frantically that rewatching is a must - 'cos you'll definitely miss some things. All of these segments are accurately shot to match some of the nonsense of the real thing and there are also plenty of deliberately tacky other things (like ram-raiding sheep) thrown in. I think my favourite bit was the motorist throwing up during his "event" but, and I hate to say it, the puppy sequence runs a close second. Shouldn't make me laugh but it does... every time.

Yip, this will shock & perhaps offend and I have to admit, knowing some people who were recently the victims of a ram-raid, did make me feel a bit uneasy...the first time through. I think you need to keep in mind when watching that it's all ridiculous and the film does make that point at the end.

So yeah, ultimate respect for making the film you wanted to make and standing by it 100%. That's what it's all about. I'd easily put it in the CHCH final.

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I would ordinarily refuse to use emoji in reviewing film, but this deserves every one of them.

Imagining the writing process on this film has me chuckling. I also love that it feels like maybe there is some genuine passion behind the anti-privacy message, and you aren’t only making a joke out of the ad.

Also just the balls that you guys have to make this the whole film! I was expecting it was maybe an extended 2min intro to the actual film… but it just keeps going and the jokes just keep getting funnier! I certainly hope there’s nothing to find at those very specific coordinates…

As mentioned above, the dedication to accurately staging these scenes is incredible. During the first few scenes I was questioning if it was just the actual ad ripped from online. The filmmaking here from planning through to post production is a phenomenal effort.

Unfortunately, I’m doubtful that a film that lacks any kind of story will be able to place high in finals.. but I would be shocked if this one doesn’t make it to the big screen. If it doesn’t make it in, they should play it before the screening of finals anyway! It’s the perfect fit!

Also as a side note I suggest to anyone who resonates with this film to watch season 2 episode 3 of The IT Crowd.

*anti-piracy

sorry…

Look, I've seen this joke done before (in The IT Crowd, as TheRealClose says, and elsewhere), but I've never seen it done this well. This team has done with the anti-piracy PSA what they did last year with stock footage, and it's one of the funniest things I've ever seen in this competition (and I've probably seen well over a thousand 48hours films). The jokes JUST. KEEP. ESCALATING, with some truly chef's-kiss moments throughout (the James Cook joke, holy shit), and each one was a newfound delight. Terrific attention to filmmaking form as well, subverting 48hours narrative and stylistic conventions and working perfectly within the staccato style of this particular, well-known PSA. I look forward to rewatching it to chart the story that's likely being told through the cavalcade of S-tier jokes that (on first viewing) are so funny they preclude any possibility of paying attention to story. My vote for audience favourite by a mile.

I could have watched this for hours.

Yes and yes and 1000 times yes please.

Also yes.

much good.

no words.

Hope to see it again at finals.

yes.

Loved this! Thought at first it would get old quickly but each escalation was done well and it just kept getting better.

I wouldn't steal a car? Is that a challenge? Nah fair play team this was off the walls beautiful, a veritable barrage of humour that made me yearn for my years of working in a video store when I was much younger.

Move over ram raids and animals stomps, well know the worst crime you can commit is something along the lines of not paying for streaming.

Yo ho ho it takes a lot to genuinely avalanche the laughter in a short. Started funny, got chortle inducing and then genuinely jaw droppingly good. Black comedy hasn't had it this good in this comp for ages.

Fuck the lack of performances, fuck the conventional narrative because we had a lightning in a bottle vomit spewing PSA here of epic proportions. Magic.

Story: 4.5/5
Technical: 3.5/5
Elements: 4/5
Overall: 4.5/5

I lost count of how many times I have watched this! It is such a memorable piece of this year's 48 Hours. The jokes kept escalating which gives that hook. It even went on to have a dig at James Cook which was hilarious!

Such a great call back to something we all remember so vividly. Really funny and excellent editing throughout. Great to see something a bit different and unique in the city finals. The Captain Cook part was fucking hilarious. Can't wait to to watch it again!

What a crowd pleaser! I was sure you would get best Editing. Very well made and nostalgic. The increasingly intended absurdness really struck every note well all the way to the very end. Super creative and self referential. Extremely memorable and I am sure it will be mentioned for years to come in this competition. I can't wait to see what you do next year.

YES Herms Heroes you brilliant fools. You genius jokers. You rebellious jesters.

Hear me now; I don't think I've ever laughed harder at a 48Hour film than COP OUT.

As a couple people have said, it's a joke we've all seen done before, but the execution and escalation here is unmatched - and after 15 years of people quoting the IT Crowd version, I say move over, coz Herms Heroes have made the definitive "You Wouldn't Steal a Car" parody (You Wouldn't Steal a Car should have been your title by the way - my only critique of the film).

I could go on and list my favourite jokes (The Captain Cook dig, the ram raids, or my personal favourite, when it just says "YOU" and the guy is like "Me?"), but what I think really separates this from the oversaturated anti-piracy satire is the escalation is second to none, going from the lows of stealing a pen to the dizzying heights of accidentally killing a jogger and burying them in Bottle Lake Forest - and by explaining at the end that Piracy is worse than all of these crimes combined, I dare say it ties everything up into a little thesis statement - a comment on the overblown anti-piracy campaign which was perhaps a little unnecessary in the face of unsolved manslaughter and colonization of indigenous land.

It's the specificity that make these jokes work as well - we get some hilarious current events nods and cultural references, which immediately allow us to feel like we're in on the joke, but I also love the attention to detail - we're told just HOW much Indigenous land was stolen, we're told the EXACT coordinates where the body is buried. These would be easy details to miss, but they improve the jokes tenfold.

Another couple blink-and-you'll-miss-it jokes I'm in love with: The face the public masturbator makes when he glances at the camera - a mix of embarrassment and shame and terror, and I also love that the guy vomits after burying the body - so much story is packed into these second long shots and while it's all very silly and all very funny, what we're actually seeing here is some hilarious filmmakers who absolutely know what they're doing.

The film won't be for everyone, and some may even disagree with calling it a film - but that's kind of why I love it so. In days gone by we've had teams like Strang Entertainment and Toot Toot who've pushed the limit and played with medium and format and it adds a spice to the city finals which I think makes it feel truly complete, and I really hope Herms Heroes are here to stay.

Challenge for next year: This is the kind of team I don't like giving advice to, because their storytelling inclinations should be unspoiled, but what I will encourage is for you guys to keep being wild and funny, and keep pushing at the walls of the competition, keep subverting what we're expecting to see when we say "film", whether that be another pisstake of a cultural touchstone, something even wilder, or even something more traditional.