The Parole Officer

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The Parole Officer
Directed by	John Duigan
Produced by	Duncan Kenworthy Andrew Macdonald
Written by	Steve Coogan Henry Normal
Starring	Steve Coogan Om Puri Steven Waddington Ben Miller Emma Williams
Music by	Alex Heffes
Cinematography	John Daly
Editing by	David Freeman
Distributed by	DNA Films Universal Pictures
Release date(s)	August 10, 2001
Running time	93 min.
Language	English
IMDb profile

The Parole Officer is a 2001 film, directed by John Duigan and starring Steve Coogan.

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The main character, Simon Garden, played by Coogan is a well-meaning but ineffectual probation officer. At the beginning of the film, he is facing a tribunal after his entire department submit complaints against him, Garden having only had three successes in his career. He is therefore transferred to Manchester.

In Manchester, when looking into the case of a "client", Kirsty, a juvenile delinquent who had had Class A drugs planted on her, Simon witnesses the murder of an accountant by corrupt police officer Detective Inspector Burton. He is discovered, chased from the building by two bouncers and after being cornered, ends up falling into a canal. However, he has inadvertently left his wallet containing identification at the crime scene and is duly framed for the accountant's murder by D.I.Burton. Simon goes to the police with the story, but ends up being interviewed by Burton, who is leading the investigation. He releases Simon, but threatens him with prison unless he keeps quiet about his drugs scam and the murder.

Simon decides to leave Manchester for good, then remembers that a CCTV camera had filmed the whole event. He realises that this security tape will clear his name and show that Burton was the real murderer. Unfortunately, it is sealed in a safety deposit box in a bank. Thus, he enlists the help of his successful ex-clients and between them they devise a cunning plan to retrieve the tape from the bank.