The Parole Officer
2001 Directed by John Duigan
Synopsis
A hapless parole officer (Steve Coogan) is framed for murder by a crooked police chief. To prove his innocence he must entice his former clients away from the law abiding lives they are now living to recover the evidence that will save him.
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First off, we all know this should have been called 'The Probation Officer' - that's a niggle that riled me about this one since release, though not the fault of Steve Coogan & Henry Normal who, with The Parole Officer, serve up a movie that moves Coogan away from his usual edgy comedy of embarrassment to deliver a quintessentially British and rather old-fashioned crime caper, with a few points of darkness at its core but mostly a soft, comfortable centre - it's probably the safest thing Coogan has ever done.
That summation works perhaps as a double-edged sword; there's a charm about this film you don't expect from a man who's well known for odious comic caricatures, yet Coogan's hapless hero…
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It had been a while since I saw this film and I still enjoy and it has some good laughs.
Completely forgot Lena Heady was in this
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This is an old favourite of mine, mostly due to Coogan but Om Puri & a young Lena Headey put in a good performance as well.
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Steve Coogan is ... funny. And I can't see Lena Headley in anything without thinking of Cercei Lannister. Aside from that, worth watching for some easy laughs.
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"A silly story with some very funny moments, but which drags a bit in the middle. Steve Coogan was being well, Steve Coogan-ish, but I thought Ben Miller was the star of the film - he was absolutely brilliant."
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An immensely silly yet entertaining (and surprisingly feel-good) entry in the Coogs' filmography
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Pedestrian comedy-thriller that marked Steve Coogan's starring debut on the big screen. He's the title figure, who recruits some newly law-abiding ex-cons for a bank job after he's framed for murder. It's amiable enough, there are a handful of smile-worthy moments (the fight scene using office equipment is good value) and the film generates some suspense by taking its story surprisingly seriously, but the characters are poorly defined - aside from Stephen Dillane's bent copper - and that rollercoaster set-piece is just crap. It's always funny when future stars turn up in bit-parts and you wonder just how hard the producer is kicking himself for not giving them more to do. Here, Simon Pegg has a walk-on as "deflated husband", while Olivia Colman appears for all of 10 seconds, and isn't allowed to speak.
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First off, we all know this should have been called 'The Probation Officer' - that's a niggle that riled me about this one since release, though not the fault of Steve Coogan & Henry Normal who, with The Parole Officer, serve up a movie that moves Coogan away from his usual edgy comedy of embarrassment to deliver a quintessentially British and rather old-fashioned crime caper, with a few points of darkness at its core but mostly a soft, comfortable centre - it's probably the safest thing Coogan has ever done.
That summation works perhaps as a double-edged sword; there's a charm about this film you don't expect from a man who's well known for odious comic caricatures, yet Coogan's hapless hero…
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A bit of nonsense. Liked that it was in England and I knew all the places.
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A bit of daft crime fun set around Manchester starring one of Manchester's own.
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One Star for Coogan.
One star for Manchester.
One star for Lena Headey's boobies.