The Parole Officer   Starring: Steve Coogan, Om Puri, Steven Waddington, Ben Miller, Emma Williams, Lena Headey, Omar Sharif and Jenny Agutter Distributor: Fabulous Films Ltd / Fremantle Media Enterprises RRP: £14.99 Certificate: 15 Release Date: 15 February 2016

Simon Garden is a pretty useless parole office. After his entire office complain about him, he is shipped off to another office in Manchester. Within days of being relocated, he witnesses the murder of an accountant - a crime Garden is framed for. He can't go to the police, because the city's top detective was the killer. The only proof is on a security tape, which is stored in a bank vault. Garden enlists four of his past clients; individuals who gave up a life of crime because of Garden's help (but mostly because they were rubbish at it) to plan a ban raid steal the tape and prove his innocence...

The Parole Officer (2001) is a British Comedy that stars Steve Coogan as Simon Garden. While far from being a work of genius, it is a film that has its moments and has aged quite well. Drawing obvious parallels with the Ealing comedies of the '60s, The Parole Officer sadly brings little new to the table.

While this may at first be a platform for Coogan to showcase his comedy talent, thankfully it winds up being an ensemble piece with each of the ex-criminals getting there moment in the spotlight. Likewise, Garden's love interest, Emma (Lena Headey) gets to help save the day.

The music by Alex Heffes is worthy of note. It sits in the background quite well until it's needed. The scene with Garden running back to retrieve the tape is heightened greatly by Heffes bold music.

Extras include The Making of the Parole Officer (22 min, 04 sec which also includes a gag reel); 6 deleted scenes with optional audio commentary; an audio commentary with Coogan, the director, the, writer and producer (which is pretty average as commentaries go. But it does have some interesting bits of information, including the cameo of Coogan's then girlfriend and child; why the Simon Pegg and Julia Davis cameo works so well; as well as Coogan stating that he thinks the movie will age well); Trailer (1 min, 26 sec); and Atomic Kitten Video (3 min, 19 sec).

It was never going to win any awards, but it's still an enjoyable film.

7

Darren Rea