Failed parole officer Simon Garden is framed for a murder committed by one of Manchester's leading police officers.

The only evidence proving his innocence is a CCTV video tape locked inside a bank vault. With the help of four inept ex-criminals and love interest Emma, Garden must break into the bank and steal the CCTV footage in order to clear his name.....

Oh the transition from TV to big screen is a long and arduous path. Some succeed with very little effort (Simon Pegg),but for others, they suffer an unfortunate Mis-step, which hinders them for a while.

2001 had two particular cases of the latter. The awful Ali G Inda House was one, and this was the other casualty.

The story is good enough, but the humour just feels so seventies TV sitcom, and the inclusion of the vomit scene on The Big One wreaks of desperation. Every one who is a fan of Coogan knows that he is a comic genius, his characters are hilarious and self deprecating, but here with Garden, it seems that he is trying to hard to channel Peter Sellers, but it always ends up with him reverting back to Partridge, which hinders the narrative.

The rest if the cast are fine, but they are relegated to stereotypes, and appearing in little sketches that the film resorts too for laughs.

It's a shame, because there are a few funny moments in the film, Om Puri is truly funny in his role, but at the end of the day, it just feels like a TV Christmas special, and no amount of Omar Sharif in a comedy wig can change it.

Simon Garden (Steve Coogan) is an "annoying" incompetent parole officer. Of his thousand clients, he could only point to three successes; George (Om Puri),Jeff, and Colin. He gets transferred to Manchester. Police Inspector Burton (Stephen Dillane) chases down juvenile car thief Kirsty and recovers drugs. She becomes Simon's case and claims the drugs were planted. He asks out police constable Emma (Lena Headey). At a strip club, he witnesses Burton selling the drugs and murdering his criminal partner. He escapes but leaves behind his wallet. Burton threatens him with a murder frame-up but later, he decides to take on the corrupt hero cop with the help of his clients, and the mysterious Victor (Omar Sharif).

Coogan is playing a well-meaning buffoon in a light caper police crime drama. He delivers some good comedy and a couple of outlandish gross-out jokes. Vomiting on the roller-coaster is hilarious. The movie could have staked out that area and made this utterly stupid. Instead, it tries to straddle both gross out stupidity and light caper comedy. It needs to pick how serious to treat the material. As it stands, it struggles to satisfy both high-minded and low-brow comedic tastes.

I remember seeing this film once, and not only did I need to see it again, but I noticed I hadn't written a review of it, so it a case of all over again. Basically failed parole, or probation, officer Simon Garden (Steve Coogan) witnesses a murder in a store room, committed by one of Manchester's leading police constables, Detective Inspector Burton (King Arthur's Stephen Dillane). After escaping, Simon managed to drop his wallet containing identification at the crime scene, so he has been framed for the murder by Burton. The only proof he knows of to prove his innocence and Burton's guilt is the CCTV security camera footage on a video tape, locked inside a bank vault. With the help of ex-criminals George (Gandhi's Om Puri),Jeff (Sleepy Hollow's Steven Waddington) and Colin (Ben Miller),whom Simon paroled, and love interest Emma (Lena Headey),they plan to break into the bank and steal this video tape to clear his name. Also starring Jenny Agutter as Sarah Bonderenko - Victor's Wife, Emma Williams as Kirsty, Simon Pegg as Deflated Husband, Omar Sharif as Victor and Julia Davis as Insinuating Wife. I can see what the critics mean by the film trying to recapture the days of the British Ealing comedy crime caper, and it nearly manages it. Coogan is as good as what you see on TV, his range of co-stars are a alright, and there are some good moments that will get some giggles, so I might watch it again in the future. It was nominated the BAFTA for the Carl Foreman Award for the Most Promising Newcomer for writers Coogan and Henry Normal. Worth watching!