The Parole Officer

Best surprise I've had in a long time: funny, sweet, and just well, good. It's not crude, or rude ('cept for a couple of obligatory phallic jokes and a couple of swear words) : it could be Rowan Atkinson in the title role. Here Steve Coogan, for my money, leaves behind the skewering satire and parody that made him a household name and a cult figure on UK television, and by half way through the film develops a character that you root for 100%

Nice storyline, a fun caper, and mixed bag of personalities make this a much better mix than expectations might lead you to believe.

I love Ealing Comedies, and good British comedies like Brassed Off, and thought the recent US remake of the Ladykillers was just about everything you don't want a crime comedy movie to be...

... the thing about the Parole Officer is that it is simply enjoyable; it has great pace, some tension and thrills, good laughs, with enough silliness, and ideas to keep it afloat; but it also has a sweet heart and a decency at its center. We thoroughly enjoyed it: especially the last hour: once Coogan stops trying to prove he can develop figures only to poke fun about - he becomes a really likable character - and that's no bad thing.

It's fun - pure and simple - which is a quality sadly lacking in films these days. Definitely worth viewing.

After mediocre initial reviews, this film could become a cult classic.

It's a 'perfect crime' comedy with hints of 'A Fish called Wanda', and different people will take different things from it. There's high-level slapstick, satire/parody and a lot of Steveish in-humour for die-hard Coogan fans.

The entire plot is unbelievable to a farcical extreme, and every character other than Simon Garden suffers from a lack of depth, but then this was always going to be a Coogan vehicle (Rover 75 V6 with Walnut dash, perhaps) and he makes the transition to big screen star successfully, if reluctantly.

I suspect that as Coogan matures as an actor and relaxes into mainstream life, the Parole Officer's reputation will retroactively improve and in ten years time, this will be seen as a classic British comedy.

Simon Garden is a parole officer but not a particularly successful one. When one of his assigned ex-cons, Kirsty, steals a car and some drugs Simon believes that the arresting officer, DI Burton, has pocketed the drugs. He follows Burton to find out more and ends up witnessing him murdering a known underworld accountant. Intimidated and moved out of his job, Simon realises that the whole thing was caught on cctv and he can use it to prove Burton's guilt but there's only one problem – the security tape has been placed in the vault of the local bank. Against all his values and beliefs, Simon calls together a collection of the ex-cons that he had put straight and puts together a plan to rob the bank, steal the tape and use it to prove the murderer.

Many films are not really worth the bother of going to the cinema and paying your money to see and, for me, The Parole Officer was one such film. So three years later I decided to watch this for free when it arrived on channel 4 and, while it was a silly little thing, it still made me laugh a few times and that was enough for me. The plot is silly and simple but it has a nice little comic touch to it that creates a general air of humour as well as several specifically funny moments. Of course it is nonsense and not hilarious but it did the job for me and was funny in a rather basic and silly way – although if you are expecting to be laughing out loud all the way through it then I imagine you will be disappointed.

The cast is pretty good and features a lot of well-known faces (well, certainly well known to fans of UK comedy). Coogan is hardly at his best here and this is not a great showcase for him (it just doesn't compare to his better work) but he is still funny even if his Simon is just a very poor man's Alan Partridge. Support is good for him from the likes of Om Puri, Emma Williams, Steve Waddington and the great Ben Miller. None of them really shine but they are as good as the film deserves and help support Coogan well enough. Omar Sharif makes a very strange cameo (but an effective one) and the wonderful Simon Pegg showed just how able he is by getting laughs by simply exchanging a glance with Julia Davis.

Overall this is a silly British comedy without a great deal of style or imaginative wit but one that still managed to make me laugh several times throughout the film. The humour will appeal more to a British audience than anyone else; certainly the casting is designed to appeal to an UK audience and the sense of humour will too. Not a great film by any means and far from being the best example of the abilities of those involved but it raised a few laughs and had a humorous tone all the way through that I quite enjoyed.

"The Parole Officer" is a funny little comedy gem from the UK that has its share of flaws. Occasionally the jokes are just a bit too silly and the movie has a few lengths in the middle. Also, the score seems completely out of place more often than not.

On the plus side, though, the film has got a great cast. Most jokes work because the actors deliver them with such great timing. Nothing needs to be said about Steve Coogan anymore. Everybody knows his talent by now and the man is rightfully on his way to a career in Hollywood. Ben Miller can be seen here, too, before he came to bigger fame with "The Worst Week Of My Life". He's great, just like Om Puri, George Steven Waddington and Emma Williams, all of which play a group of ex-criminals who plan to break into a bank to steal evidence that will clear the name of the wrong-fully accused title character (played by Coogan). Lena Headey is another face you might recognize from "300" or the new "Terminator" TV-series. She's just gorgeous, beautiful and very charming. Omar Sharif makes a prominent cameo and there's a blink-and-you'll-miss-it appearance by Simon Pegg - probably the best moment of the entire movie.

So, yeah, "The Parole Officer" is a very enjoyable movie. Not all jokes hit the bullseye, but you'll laugh more than a few times. I really recommend this movie to everyone who likes classic Heist flicks and/or comedies like "Fletch".

Some of the criticism this film has received seems a little unfair. While its concept, plot and characters are not very inventive, the tone of the film works. The humour is often very amusing indeed, and much does amuse in the film. Even the predictable attempts at "Gross-Out" humour work in themselves, if perhaps not in the context of the film.

Questions could be raised about the film's odd mix of styles - the attempts at naturalism and post-modernism, old-fashioned lightweight adventure and Ealing whimsicality - all seem at odds with each other, yet an entertaining film emerges from this. The playing of an impressive cast is sound, with the supporting players, like Om Puri and Ben Miller making the most of limited parts. Stephen Dillane does a steady job as a smug, self-satisfied policeman baddie. I much enjoyed the absurd bit where he laughs maniacally for a while while on TV and the camera zooms into the TV screen Coogan is watching him on. Newcomer Emma Williams is an effective addition to the cast, although she doesn't have all that much to do in plot terms, come to think of it. The finely named Lena Headey is very inoffensive as the "love interest", and thankfully the romance such as it is is light-hearted and made part of the convoluted plot. Perhaps a problem is the excess of characters, a few of whom could be done without. Omar Sharif's cameo was briskly enjoyable, but hardly necessary to the plot, for example. Steve Coogan, so successful on TV with the Alan Partridge character, goes for a more likable, less intricate comic character in this film. He is often excellent, in scenes such as when he does an odd, buffoonish dance in a club. There are plenty of effective little character touches and importantly, one is made to like his character and want him and his "gang" to win out, so to speak, by the end. A film reminiscent of past British Ealing comedies, yet with a fair dose of crudity. In the context of today, this is an impressively funny film, but it does not quite match up to "The Ladykillers" or "The League of Gentlemen", for example. It is slightly overlong, but largely a winning, refreshing minor comedy.