Thumbs up for the Marmite man this time! (The Parole Officer (DVD))

Member Name: Judgee

Product:	The Parole Officer (DVD)
Date:	29/03/02 (139 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Funny

Disadvantages: Not that funny

The Parole officer stars Steve Coogan, or as I like to think of him, the marmite man. Why? Well it's not so much that you love or hate the actor, but more that you love or hate his character creations. Perhaps even more so, you love to hate his creations. Alan Partridge was a monster, but ultimately viewable. Paul Calf summed up all that was wrong with mankind, but he made you snigger. Tony Ferrino, well let's forget that one shall we, perhaps Coogan had been drinking when he created him. For these reasons I was a bit sceptical about seeing this film, but I was pleasantly surprised, here's what I thought.


Cast/Characters

Steve Coogan - Simon Garden
Lena Headey - Emma
Om Puri - George
Steve Waddington - Jeff
Ben Miller - Colin
Emma Williams - Kirsty
Stephen Dillane - DI Burton
Omar Sharif - Victor
Jenny Agutter - Victors Wife


Simon Garden is a caring if somewhat annoying parole officer. His success rate at saving criminals is pretty poor and he has a habit of annoying the hell out of his colleagues. For these reasons he is transferred to the Manchester branch of the service and it does not take him long to adjust to his new surroundings.


His first case is that of a young girl, Kirsty. Kirsty is serial car thief and not a very good one, She always gets caught. It is Simon's job to put her on the straight and narrow path and when she is brought in on trumped up drugs charges, Simon seems to be the only person who believes she is innocent. Discussing her case with the arresting officer, DI Burton, Simon suspects the police officer is more involved in the case than he is letting on. For this reason, Simon follows him to a seedy strip bar and witnesses the corrupt officer murder a drug dealer with his bare hands.


Unfortunately Simon is not the most stealth like person in the world and is soon discovered. Burton attempts to murder Simon in order to
assure his silence, but is unsuccessful. Left with no other options, Burton blackmails Simon into keeping quiet with the threat of framing him for the murder instead.


Simon's only saving grace is a video camera at the scene of the crime. If he can get his hands on the videotape, it will prove his innocence and convict Burton. As always though, retrieving the tape is not so simple, it has been placed in a bank vault. If only Simon knew how to break in and get it? Oh well, it looks like all is lost until he comes up with an ingenious plan, recruit all three criminals that he has successfully put back into the community and use their expertise to retrieve the tape!


Not the actions of a responsible parole officer perhaps, but Simon sets about recruiting his team. First up is George, an intelligent criminal with lots of knowledge on crime (if a bit outdated) Past his best maybe, but solid as a rock when it comes to loyalty. Next up is Colin, a technical genius when it comes to security systems, in particular alarms. Last but by no means least, Jeff a tough if somewhat simple criminal. His weakness is definitely a lack of brain power but nevertheless handy muscle for the job in hand.


So the happy band set about planning the robbery and this where the story really takes off, so I will say no more on the plot to protect the innocent ie people who have not seen the film yet!


Coogan co-wrote this film with Henry Normal (they wrote Paul Calf together) and teamed up with John Duigan for the direction. The one thing I really liked about the main character Simon is that he is not so over the top as Coogans previous creations or that of other comedians. He is a bit silly at times, but not to the point where he becomes irritating. Unlike other bumbling characters such as Mr Bean and Frank Spencer, whose mishaps are used to the point that they make you cringe. Simon is still portrayed as a "real" person.



The supporting cast is excellent, Om Puri as George is fantastically understated, you might remember him from East is East! Steve Waddington (Tarzan (1998) Last of the Mohicans (1992)) Steps out of his usual upper class officer type roles and proves he can play the dunce as well as anybody. Ben Miller, sporting a nifty bleached blonde hair-do is spot on with his eccentric genius character (you might remember him as one half of the comedy duo Armstrong and miller who brought you Streeeeekkaaaaa!) Emma Miller is good as the waif and stray with a taste for fast cars. New to the acting game, she has done her career no harm with this performance. Lena Headey plays the love interest as Emma,a police woman with a bad taste in men ie she fancies Simon! Probably best known as Kitty in The Jungle Book ((1994), she is gorgeous and can't be faulted (I won't allow it!)! I must also mention a couple of nice Cameo appearances by Omar Sharif as the mysterious criminal Victor and Jenny Agutter as his wife. I guess the only actor to let the side down is Stephen Dillane who puts in an adequate if somewhat dull performance as the nasty corrupted policeman.


Overall I really enjoyed this film, far more than I expected actually! It just goes to show you what can be achieved on a low budget, when the director, writer and actors are all working in sinc. The balance of the film is what really stands out. With loveable characters that are not too over the top, great timing, some funny lines with a bit of slapstick thrown in, nice action sequences. The love interest is kept to a minimum, as it should be in a film like this. Nice all round package, better than a rainy day movie. It won't go down in history as a classic, but it will make you laugh and I thoroughly recommend it!




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