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".
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!”
By Andrew Hedley, Flicks.co.nz
100 minutes of fast talking, razor-sharp, laugh-out-loud wit that plays out like the very best British sitcom. Intelligent political satire is rarely so articulate, hilarious and profane all at the same time. Deserves five stars alone for the demented vicious bile spewed so deliciously by Peter Capaldi. Possibly the smartest satire on bureaucracy during wartime since Dr. Strangelove
You need a good british sense of humour to understand it. It's great !!
A laugh out loud and clever film, which also has a touch of pathos running through it. Loved it, and will see it again.
Time for reality. Loved it, will see again as soon as I find out where it is playing. Never stopped laughing. It is meant for adults not PC types.
Hmmm... quality film reviewers (below) vs (some) Idiots on Flicks... whose view counts? I saw it twice and am considering a third time, so I place my bet on the professionals and not people who walk out after 10 mins and still think they can accurately judge it...
Spinal Tap meets Strangelove. A satirical demolition of Whitehall and Washington: politically astute, hilarious and terrifyingly real.
Alastair Campbell didn't like it - meaning you almost certainly will. Peter Bradshaw on the funniest, sharpest film of the year.
Painfully funny satire of British and American bureaucrats in the days leading up to the Iraq War.
In the Loop is no precious show dog. It's a snarling, frothing little beastie straining at its leash.
A sharply written, fast-talking, almost dementedly articulate satire on modern statecraft...
We've been told the NZ release date for this flick is Thursday, 1st Oct 2009.
Release date: October 1st 2009.
We haven't received times for this movie in this location yet. However these are updated as cinemas announce them, so check back soon. Hopefully the lovely cinemas in your location will choose to play it shortly. ~Ed.
