|
|
|
Parole Officer (The)
R2 - United Kingdom - Fabulous Films Review written by and copyright: Matthew Crossman (16th February 2016). |
|
The Film
 Simon Garden (Steve Coogan) is a parole officer who has to move offices from Blackpool to Manchester because of complaints from his co-workers (he is rather enthusiastic but not particularly good at his job). Once at the Manchester office he encounters a young women who has been arrested but insists that the drugs she has been caught with whilst stealing a car are not hers. Simon believes her and takes this view to the Inspector Burton (Stephen Dillane) the officer that arrested her, who indeed did plant the drugs on her, and is ignored. Simon persists and follows Burton to a strip club. Garden overhears some shady dealings between Burton and the owner of the strip club and hides in an office. Burton enters the room where Simon is hiding and if front of Simon’s eyes murders the strip club owner’s accountant. Simon is then discovered and after a brief chase is punched in the nose and falls off the room of the club into a canal. The following day Simon goes to the police station to report the murder but is thwarted when it transpires that Burton is heading up the investigation into the murder and threatens to implicate Simon in the murder and get him sent to prison. Simon decides not to pursue the matter and leaves hoping to get his old position back in Blackpool. It’s on the way back to Blackpool that Simon remembers that the murder was captured on the strip club’s CCTV cameras and he decides to go back to Manchester and recover the tape. Unfortunately for Simon the tape has been taken by the club’s owner and put into a safety deposit box in a bank. Simon then goes about recruiting the only three people that he ever managed to convince to go straight (out of a thousand) into helping him break into the back and retrieve the tape. All the while that this is going on Simon has fallen for a police woman called Emma (played by Lena Headey, recently famous for her stint on Game of Thrones). Gathering his team Simon starts to formulate a plan to break into the back and recover the tape. All whilst Inspector Deacon is on Simon’s trail looking to frame him for murder and finally get him out of the way. ‘The Parole Officer’ (which should actually be named ‘The Probation Officer’, for that is what Simon actually is) is a strange film in that it falls between too many stools. The thriller part of the film is gentle enough that children would probably enjoy many of the slapstick antics that the cast get up to but this is tempered with plenty of bad language, crude sexual jokes and some very brief nudity. Therefore the probably audience for ‘The Parole Officer’ is the middle to late teens which is limiting it somewhat. It also has a plot line that does not stand up to even the smallest scrutiny. Out of the thousand clients that Simon has seen he decides to recruit the only three that have gone straight after being released from prison. Surely it would have been better to actually have recruited some real criminals and Simon did know at least 997 candidates. It also appears that writers Coogan and Henry Norman thought up some, what they considered at least, good gags but had no way to work them into the film. This, of course, does not actually stop them from putting them in hence we have a scene on a rollercoaster in Blackpool where Simon Garden vomits over a group of children behind him just because the writers thought it was funny. In a proper context, with the scene actually meaning something to the plot, it probably would have worked. In this movie it just seems rather dumped in. It’s not all bad however. Despite a formulaic plot (there is never any real suspense, you know full well that Simon will win the day and get the girl and the tape) ‘The Parole Officer’ does have a great cast who all seem to be rather enjoying themselves (right up until the cringe inducing dance scene that plays over the credits to David Bowie’s song ‘Heroes’.) The cast list boasts such luminaries of the acting world as Om Puri, Ben Miller, Stephen Dillane, Lena Headey, Jenny Agutter, Simon Pegg (in a miniscule, blink and you’ll miss it, non speaking cameo), Omar Sharif and, of course, Steve Coogan playing…Well, Steve Coogan. What doesn’t shine is the awkward script although there are one are two moments in the film that almost make it worth watching (assuming nothing else is on TV and it’s the only DVD to hand.) Steve Coogan himself said in a recent interview in The Guardian that when he thinks back on ‘The Parole Office’ it makes him squirm. It’s not that bad but it’s nowhere near as good as Coogan can, and will in future films, do.
Video
The picture is presented at a ratio of 1.78:1 (anamorphic). As the film started I must admit my heart sank. The opening Universal logo was riddled with thick grain and then the Vision Video Limited logo came up and this was even worse. It looked VHS quality. Thankfully however the actual picture quality of the feature presentation is very good. Everything is clear and crisp and whilst this is not a film boasting great colours or effects it’s about as good a picture as can be expected. I did play this disc via a blu ray play so the disc was given a small boost by the machine but overall this is probably as good a DVD presentation of the film as can be expected.
Audio
The only audio option is an English 5.1 Dolby Digital soundtrack. It’s a decent mix. The film contains many pop songs and they come through nice and strong but when they do play the centre speaker for dialogue is given a boost meaning that the music never drowns out any spoken parts of the film. The sub woofer is sparingly used but does provide a satisfying kick during the car chases. The rear speakers are used well but not with any real spatial separation and it seems the same mix is sent to the rear speakers regardless of what is happening on screen. Having said that I have no real complaints and it sounds as good as ever going to sound. Hard of Hearing subtitles are provided in English.
Extras
The Making of Parole Officer (22:04) - This featurette is presented in 4:3. It’s the usual fluff piece designed to sell the film. It features interviews with Steve Coogan, Ben Miller, Om Puri, Lena Headey, Jenny Agutter, and many of the cast. It also features behind the scenes footage as well as some bloopers, most of which are funnier than the material left in the main feature. Deleted Scenes - Here we have six deleted scenes which can be watched as were intended or with a commentary provided. These are; Arrival (0:41) Quite a good, short, short scene. Slideshow/Crisps (1:51) Easy to understand why the two short scenes were cut as they are repetitive of material that has already been shown in the film. Zoë (1:25) A scene where Simon is leaving a message for his recently divorced Wife on the answer phone whilst she makes love with her new lover. It has a decent punch line. Tram (1:31) Simon and Kirsty talk about Kirsty plea bargaining about the drugs that were found on her person. Sandwich Shop (1:44) Simon meets Emma in a sandwich shop and a small, unimportant back story is established as they went to school together. Café (0:59) Simon and Emma talk in a café. This scene was exercised because it directly refers to the conversation in the sandwich shop. All of these scenes are presented in non anamorphic 1.78:1 and are time coded. Feature commentary - This is a full commentary with Steve Coogan (Actor and Co-Writer), John Duigan (Director), Henry Normal (Co-Writer), and Duncan Ken worthy (Producer). It’s filled with plenty of great anecdotes and trivia and I enjoyed it more than the film. A worthy extra. Trailer (1:26) - Presented in non anamorphic 1.78:1. The trailer includes the aforementioned rollercoaster scene which could have been filmed simply for the trailer but the funniest line from the film. Watch the trailer and you probably don’t have to bother with the rest of the film. Atomic Kitten Video (3:19) - Atomic Kitten video singing ‘Eternal Flame’ presented in non anamorphic 1.78:1. The video is interspersed with clips from the film which gives the impression that the film is more of a romantic comedy.
Overall
A good cast, with decent direction, but let down with a formulaic script. ‘The Parole Officer’ is a missed opportunity to showcase the talents of Steve Coogan but as he is a co-writer he only has himself to blame. The DVD presentation of ‘The Parole Officer’ by Fabulous Films is very good indeed with good picture quality, sound and a very good array of extras (probably more than the film actually deserves). Fans of Coogan or the film itself have been well catered for.
|
|||||
|