In the Loop is a cynical, laugh-out-loud docudrama-cum-comedy that tackles the "speculative" side of modern politics with piercingly funny and audacious dazzle and dialogue. Writer/director Armando Iannucci satirises and melds both the light and dark components of International relations and humour into an instant transatlantic gem of vivid one-liners and putdowns, characters and camera-work with Peter Capaldi at the cold heart of it all in one of the single most funniest yet frightening character performances I've seen in anything, anywhere, ever.
The film, itself, follows a fictitious assembly of foul-mouthed, sharp-tongued Government and State Department Officials, advisers, Secretaries and enforcers in their behind-the-scenes efforts to either promote or prevent the then impending war in the middle east.
Tom Hollander plays Simon Foster, a nervy yet humane Cabinet Minister who lands himself in a web of turmoil after publicly declaring the possibility of the UK and the US launching a war in the middle-east as "unforeseeable" only to contradict himself the following morning with a hilarious pro-war metaphor on live TV. Enter the PM's obstinate and shady communications chief Malcolm Tucker (Capaldi), an abusive yet hysterical press and political spin doctor who jets Foster and his assistant Toby off to Washington while things in London get smoothed over. In the Loop centres, then, on the aftermath of Foster's comments as both pro and anti war narcissists inside the US State Department treat him as a pawn in their fierce yet farcical tug of war as the "secret" opinion poll for military intervention in the middle-east draws near.
It's basically The Office meets Dr. Strangelove. It's probably the best and most original British comedy to hit the silver screen in years. It's a sublime political satire: a hyper-kinetic, feature-length spin-off of director Iannucci's award winning BBC sit-com (The Thick of It) that has all the energy, look and feel of a 30 minute episode and it's bloody brilliant. Hard to follow in places, perhaps, but more than enough chunks of comedy gold at hand to keep you glued until the plot becomes clear. Still not everyone's cup of tea, granted, but sufficient enough to wet the appetites of those who like (a) their politics, (b) their comedy black and sharp and ( c ) their films fast, smart and relevant to the now.
If truth be told, though, In the Loop is hardly an enlightening experience, it doesn't educate us on the cut throat world of politics- apparently it's corrupt and full of lying, egocentric gits- director Armando Ianucci and his team of talented screenwriters don't say anything we don't already know, then, but when a film's this funny and this good who cares!? Stand-out turns from Capaldi, Hollander and James Gandolofini along with a whole host of smartly scripted, paced and delivered dialogue make for one of the funniest films this country have ever produced. So get In the Loop.
The film, itself, follows a fictitious assembly of foul-mouthed, sharp-tongued Government and State Department Officials, advisers, Secretaries and enforcers in their behind-the-scenes efforts to either promote or prevent the then impending war in the middle east.
Tom Hollander plays Simon Foster, a nervy yet humane Cabinet Minister who lands himself in a web of turmoil after publicly declaring the possibility of the UK and the US launching a war in the middle-east as "unforeseeable" only to contradict himself the following morning with a hilarious pro-war metaphor on live TV. Enter the PM's obstinate and shady communications chief Malcolm Tucker (Capaldi), an abusive yet hysterical press and political spin doctor who jets Foster and his assistant Toby off to Washington while things in London get smoothed over. In the Loop centres, then, on the aftermath of Foster's comments as both pro and anti war narcissists inside the US State Department treat him as a pawn in their fierce yet farcical tug of war as the "secret" opinion poll for military intervention in the middle-east draws near.
It's basically The Office meets Dr. Strangelove. It's probably the best and most original British comedy to hit the silver screen in years. It's a sublime political satire: a hyper-kinetic, feature-length spin-off of director Iannucci's award winning BBC sit-com (The Thick of It) that has all the energy, look and feel of a 30 minute episode and it's bloody brilliant. Hard to follow in places, perhaps, but more than enough chunks of comedy gold at hand to keep you glued until the plot becomes clear. Still not everyone's cup of tea, granted, but sufficient enough to wet the appetites of those who like (a) their politics, (b) their comedy black and sharp and ( c ) their films fast, smart and relevant to the now.
If truth be told, though, In the Loop is hardly an enlightening experience, it doesn't educate us on the cut throat world of politics- apparently it's corrupt and full of lying, egocentric gits- director Armando Ianucci and his team of talented screenwriters don't say anything we don't already know, then, but when a film's this funny and this good who cares!? Stand-out turns from Capaldi, Hollander and James Gandolofini along with a whole host of smartly scripted, paced and delivered dialogue make for one of the funniest films this country have ever produced. So get In the Loop.