Customer Reviews

The Parole Officer

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I saw bits of this on TV, liked it a lot and bought the DVD (ignoring the format warning). I could force it to play on my "multi-region" DVD player, but, I guess because of PAL, it did not play in color.

In spite of all that, I loved the movie because of its odd sense of humor. I am sorry, but I don't know any way to describe Coogan's comic sense; neither "dry" nor "quirky" quite fit.

If you realize that a parole officer persuading his ex-con clients to rob a bank to prevent a corrupt police officer from getting an undeserved award for bravery is a comic plot, then you should enjoy this movie.

Steve Coogan, a British star known for his fake chat show host character Alan Partridge, makes the leap to the big-screen with his debut feature "The Parole Officer".

Coogan witnesses a murder in a nightclub, hidden from view from the murderers. They, however, have been caught on camera, and Coogan must get the tape back to prove his innocence and bring justice to the real culprits.

The laughs come thick and fast, and the film did brisk business in the UK. It's laugh-out-loud funny due to its situations, and although the characters may seem like stock-comedy-creations, Amercian audiences might like this if you're into the Monty Python films, or enjoyed "High Heels and Low Lifes" recently.

All in all, "The Parole Officer" raises many smiles, a couple of genuine gross-out gaffaws, and even the odd surprise - check it out!

The plot is basically an excuse to chain together the not so many funny bits.

Steve Coogan is a very talented comedian but in todays world he's not stretched. The competition is very poor. Twenty years ago there was a variety of talented and one-off comics in this country. Now, what was once mediocre has been elevated to the level of brilliant. Take the last line in the film. A typical brutal, sledgehammer attempt. The rule of thumb seems to be. A crude reference to body parts will always be funny. It just isn't. Its boring.

In the first ten minutes most people if asked could have written a page summing up the remainder of the plot. Loopholes in the storyline were so many that suspending your disbelief to enjoy the film is more than impossible. Omar Sharif was probably in the film for less than 5 minutes but his performance steals the show.

Summary
I'm told old for childlike scripts!

A version of "Eternal Flame" is heard in this movie by Atomic Kitten, and they make it sound like a Destiny's Child song, a hip-hop song! Americans, U may not loooooooove this!