Excellent, Without a doubt!!

A Masterpiece!

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Blistering performances.

This movie is a good action comedy made in Britain but with Hollywood standards. On one hand it has the typical (and great) sense of humor of the British comedies, with brilliant jokes I must say, but, on the other hand it has the same kind of plot (action/police/humor) used by Hollywood, in movies like BEVERLY HILLS COPS or LETHAL WEAPON. I liked the film, I enjoyed it and found it very entertaining, but I felt a little pity for it tries so hard to be a "Hollywood blockbuster wannabe". I think it really tries to be a commercial movie, and in my point of view I think it would be better if it wouldn't… Anyway, it's a nice film that I will score 8/10 especially because of its great sense of humor (otherwise I would give it a 5/10 or something…). I can remember one particular scene that I couldn't stop laughing for something like (literally!) 5 minutes, while some tears were drowning my face… That was great! (It's a black humor scene when they go search Victor and they find his wife that tells them that he's dead and how he died… remember that scene? It's brilliant dark humor!).

Contains minor spoilers!!! OK so it's not the cleverest of humour but it's pretty entertaining and just a good laugh really. Steve Coogan plays a naive parole officer (correct me if i'm wrong) who is accused of murder so he has to rob the bank to get the incriminating footage of the person who really did it so he gets a team of former criminals who he has helped overcome there ways and who owe him a favour to get the tape. There are many moments that will make you cringe with embarrassment and also a vomiting scene on a roller-coaster if you like those kind of gags. And so If you like silly humour you will love this! I strongly recommend that you see if you're in need of a laugh.

***SPOILERS ALERT*****A gang of likable crooks led by a socially inept amateur plan a bank robbery with the aid of a series of low tech gadgets, ending with a feel good musical interlude. Expat director John Duigan pays homage to that excellent little Aussie movie "MALCOLM" here and if you enjoyed "THE PAROLE OFFICER" I'd suggest you make the effort to track down this 1986 heist comedy. Most people's opinions of "THE PAROLE OFFICER" seem to stem from the expectations they bring into it. I watched it with low expectations after reading a few bad reviews but ended up being pleasantly surprised, but if you're a fan of Steve Coogan's edgier work in "Knowing me, knowing you' and "24 hour party people" you'll probably be disappointed in this effort to make a conventional, feel good comedy. It's not a classic. The mix of comedic styles don't really sit together all that well, and even for the low standard that you apply to the plot of a gag movie the holes in the story tend to grate on you. (Why didn't they just kill him, why not erase the tape, why does gorgeous Lena Headey have a crush on the gormless Coogan.)But the things that work about this film outweigh the flaws. The gang of crooks is very likable, especially Om Puri as the philosophical serial bigamist and Emma Williams as a spunky joy rider who just wants to belong. The locations are unusual and nicely shot. Steve Coogan basically plays his Alan Partridge role again, the earnest but out of his depth social ingenue with a stream of consciousness patter. If you've been fantasising over Jenny Agutter ever since "Walkabout" and "Logan's Run" you'll see that she's aged rather nicely, and there's a surreal walk on part from Omar Sharif that completely comes out of left field. So if you've got a friend who's been banging on about how funny this is beware, you may be disappointed. But if you've read the reviews and are thinking about giving it a miss, try it. It's not a waste of time.

This film has been almost universally criticised by reviewers, so much so that I rather assumed it would be an unfunny dud. I was pleasantly surprised!(S0ME VERY MINOR SPOILERS)The plot may be highly improbable and have some gaping holes (e.g. why didn't the murderers just destroy the incriminating video?) but it is a very strong storyline that carries you and the film along with it. The presence of Omar Sharif and Jenny Agutter lend real weight to the cast list - Sharif in particular is excellent though Agutter is under-used. And there are many genuinely funny scenes. The all-singing all-dancing 'feelgood' finale is reminiscent of Bend It Like Beckham. And for this British reviewer it was refreshing to see a very British film for a change, with British locations and a totally different 'feel' to most US fare.In my opinion, where the movie could have really benefited would have been from a rewrite of the weaker sections, where the jokes fall a bit flat. This could have taken it from being a good film to a great one.