The Parole Officer – Review

Hapless doof Simon Garden (Coogan) lives the dream life of a parole officer. Out of thousands of parolees seen, at least three of his clients have remained crime-free. On the flipside, the dirty cop Inspector Burton (Dillane) is out on the streets, stopping speeding children and planting drugs on them. He gets his money however, whenever, and enforces with an iron fist.

When Garden’s job is re-evaluated, and his success rate called into question, he is sent spiraling mentally. How could this possibly be? Well, at least he quickly stumbles into the path of Inspector Burton, while also witnessing a murder. Simon suddenly is in the crosshairs of this brutish cop, who can frame him however he wants.

As Simon evaluates his choices, he sees a path to proving that the cop is the bad guy, and he was merely a bystander, but it takes finding a surveillance tape which is locked away in a seemingly impenetrable bank vault with an integrated circuit and backup systems with backup systems. Can’t just blow it up, get the tape and go. Simon turns to George (Puri), Jeff (Waddington) and Colin (Miller), a team of mostly goofy ex-criminal parties, and his only successes as a parole officer.

Quickly he convinces them to go back to crime and help him. They all have plenty in common, too. Jeff likes Oasis. Colin likes hardcore Belgian trance. George likes the Beach Boys. Simon is more of a Deep Purple vibe. So, there’s this plotline, and then the hottie Emma (Headey), a woman police constable, who Simon embarrasses himself in front of constantly.

The jokes hit in pretty much every scene of this movie, which plays the crime tale seriously despite having goofy moments sprinkled throughout. It is a nice balance, and most of the humor lands well. Who doesn’t love seeing children absolutely blasted by streams of vomit on a roller coaster? No, but seriously.

So, yeah, this movie is a bit goofy, but it is quite self-aware and fun. The goofiness helps move along the film, and the cast does a good job with its humor and some deadpan deliveries. There is a brief Simon Pegg cameo.