Dvd
In the Loop
British political satire expanded from Armando Iannucci's critically-lauded BBC TV series The Thick of It. In the Loop features a great comic cast including a Steve Coogan cameo and Peter Capaldi, as the PM's lethally foul-mouthed Director of Comms.
Incompetent British minister Simon Foster (Tom Hollander), along with his entourage, is sent to Washington after making contradictory comments about possible war in the Middle East. With everyone looking out for number one, and the fate of the free world at stake (but apparently incidental), politicians and bureaucrats bumbles their way through Machiavellian political dealings and toward comic resolutions that are, er, "unforeseeable".
Starring James Gandolfini, Tom Hollander, Peter Capaldi, Mimi Kennedy, Anna Chlumsky, Steve Coogan
Directed by Armando Iannucci (TV's 'I'm Alan Partridge', 'The Thick Of It')
Written by Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Ian Martin, Tony Roche
Comedy | 1hr 49mins | Rated (R13) | contains offensive language, sexual references | Origin: UK | Official Site »
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The Talk
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Flicks review
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4
Expanding from the BBC comedy series The Thick of It, which examined the incompetent bureaucracy of British government, In The Loop reaches out to include its Yankee counterparts in Washington. This trans-Atlantic satire is up there for one of the sharpest and funniest films you’ll see all year, jam-packed with enough fast-paced banter and cringe-worthy situations to fill a House of Lords.
Taking its visual cue from the un-showy style of the television series, the film’s naturalistic handheld camera work and fly-on-the-wall approach proves engrossing. Highlights of the large ensemble cast include Tom Hollander as a haplessly naive minister, Chris Addison as an eager newbie, or David Rasche (ex-Sledgehammer) as a condescending State official. But it’s Scottish actor Peter Capaldi who blows a fuse as foul-mouthed spin-doctor, Malcom Tucker, constantly finding new ways to verbally abuse people.
Political satire can sometimes miss the mark by being too smug or self-conscious. In The Loop succeeds by focussing on the characters, rather than the policy. There is something both unnerving and very comforting about the idea that individuals at top levels of government may be as fallible and incompetent as the rest of us.
Don’t make the mistake of presuming this is dry humour for old people or ex-pat Brits. As Malcom Tucker says, “This is a government department, not some f*cking Jane fucking Austen novel! Allow me to pop a jaunty little bonnet on your purview and ram it up your sh*tter with a lubricated horse cock!”
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The people's reviews
19 reviews
Press Reviews
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Empire (UK)
4
Spinal Tap meets Strangelove. A satirical demolition of Whitehall and Washington: politically astute, hilarious and terrifyingly real.
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Guardian (Peter Bradshaw) (UK)
5
Alastair Campbell didn't like it - meaning you almost certainly will. Peter Bradshaw on the funniest, sharpest film of the year.
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Hollywood Reporter
Painfully funny satire of British and American bureaucrats in the days leading up to the Iraq War.
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Los Angeles Times
In the Loop is no precious show dog. It's a snarling, frothing little beastie straining at its leash.
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New York Times
A sharply written, fast-talking, almost dementedly articulate satire on modern statecraft...
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Total Film (UK)
4
In The Loop may have worked equally well on TV, but no rib is left untickled in a quickfire satire that depresses as much as it amuses. Gets our vote.
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Variety (USA)
Intelligent political satire this expertly acted is nothing to sneeze at.
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