The Parole Officer film review

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THE PAROLE OFFICER

Steve Coogan and co-writer Henry Normal take that most over-stretched of movie conventions - the botched bank heist - as the inspiration for their debut big-screen feature.

Hapless probation officer Simon Garden (Coogan) witnesses corrupt cop DI Burton (Dillane) murdering his partner in a lucrative cocaine scam. Exposed as the one witness to the crime, Simon goes on the run. In his panic, he drops his wallet, which Burton then uses to frame the parole officer for the murder.

By chance, the horrifying events are captured on CCTV. Burton hastily acquires the incriminating video and locks the cassette in a bank vault. Determined to clear his good name and put Burton behind bars, Simon contacts his three rehabilitated clients - serial bigamist George (Puri), computer hacker Colin (Miller) and former boxer Jeff (Waddington) - and persuades them to help him rob the bank.

The Parole Officer is an impressive debut for Coogan and Normal, juggling comedy, action and romance elements. The plot unfolds slowly at first, relying largely on visual gags and slapstick, but once Simon recruits his team of vault breakers, the characters carry the film towards its convoluted denouement.

Coogan plays yet another endearing Everyman who is not quite up to the job, and most definitely out of his depth. There's a rather naive charm to his accident-prone do-gooder, stumbling blindly from one embarrassing situation to the next.

The romance with Headey's ambitious policewoman is a little lukewarm but there's a pleasing chemistry between the two. Puri, Miller and Waddington are delightful as the three ex-crims who break the law one last time in the name of justice.

Dillane's corrupt copper may be a two-dimensional pantomime villain, but the actor still has fun wringing out every last boo from the audience as he plants evidence to save his own hide.

Crime doesn't pay, but it can make for cracking comedy.