No Cop (The Parole Officer (DVD))

Member Name: stoffy

Product:	The Parole Officer (DVD)
Date:	20/08/01 (49 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: er, it was short-ish?

Disadvantages: poor and predictable script, waste of talent, holes in plotlines the size of Alaska

Aaa-haaaaa! Steve Coogan must be sick of the albatross of Alan Partridge around his neck. Sadly, 'The Parole Officer' is going to do very little to remove the idea that Coogan is at his best when playing a somewhat oddball character.

Coogan plays the unsuccessful Blackpool-based parole officer Simon Garden, a nice-but-embarrassing guy. The first we see of him is falling backwards off a chair saying the word 's**t', before making his apologies for looking up a secretaries skirt whilst languishing on the floor. Yes, that kind of sums up the whole film, and the humour doesn't really get any more sophisticated.

He relocates to Manchester, where he unwittingly stumbles across a murder performed by the police officer, DI Burton (Stephen Gillane), in the backroom of a strip club (yes, a strip club, where we witness 'hilarious' attempts at Garden dancing to the music to topless ladies). He is noticed by the policemen whilst hiding, and a deal is consequently struck, ensuring that Garden keeps his mouth shut.

Remembering that the whole episode was videotaped, he hatches a plot to try and get it back and prove the guilt of the police officer (because naturally, it wouldn't have occurred to the police officer to destroy the tape in the first instance). The big snag is that the tape is located in the depths of a bank vault.

Enlisting the help of ex-clients and reformed criminals (Om Puri, Ben Millar and ....Waddington), each with their own characteristic (that is in the singular due to background history of the individuals being as deep as a petri dish), they set out to fight for the truth, accumulating along the way the young scally Kirsty (Emma Williams). As they try to think of ways to break into the bank and get the videotape, they are all arrested after Burton plants evidence inside Garden's house.

Of course, they escape, but will they manage to get the videotape played and stop the ev
il murderer? Mmm, well lets just say it would have been a more interesting twist if they had have been continued to have been locked up and DI Burton had been allowed to collect his bravery award... Watch out for a celebrity cameo towards the end which will make sense of an earlier scene.

The film is very silly, and the tacked on love-interest between Garden and a policewoman (Lena Headey) adds to the yawn factor. For a second, I really hoped a Thai ladyboy would come out of Garden's closet wearing a Pringle sweater quoting Abba songs. But, alas, I was disappointed. There is also strong product placement by Walkers crisps, which gets particularly irritating after the third or so time.

The acting is competent if not exceptional, probably due to the poor script. Coogan is better than this, but seems to have gone for the safety option of a box-office hit, rather than doing anything darker and more interesting.

Whilst this film has gained a number of good reviews, it is so formulaic you're surprised when the writers credits didn't list every slapstick comedy author who ever lived. That'll be one for the lawyers then...

Having said that, there are a couple of funny moments, but you have to endure a multitude of typical chase-scences-with-falling-over bits and tired dialogue to get there, as well as the obligitory nude scene (by Headey, as her bedroom mirror reflects her getting changed to the embarressed Garden - ho ho ho...). The rollercoaster scene (Garden being sick on Blackpool beach's 'The Big One' all over a group of young girls) raises a chuckle, but is hardly groundbreaking stuff.

Of course this isn't rocket science, and serves its purpose as a non-thinking comedy caper and whilst it's reasonably fast paced, I couldn't wait for it to get to the end of the ride and jump out.

Summary: