LouHomey From my favorite movies..

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Senteur As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

Salubfoto It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

smits59 Of course this is a parody on Blair and the lies that started the second Iraq war. But don't believe the 'clever' or 'fun' reviews.In the loop doesn't contain two jokes. The so called 'fun' is in people bullying, shouting at and demeaning other people. It is the same kind of fun you get at a bullfight or cockfight. No character is explained. You have to believe that either everybody is very stupid and/or cowardly or an utter bully. Nobody is normal or has morals (maybe there's one exception. If you don't like this review please go f*ck your self. And if you don't like my language, definitely don't watch this movie (or go and watch and you'll see why.

popcorninhell In the 1960's there was a rather astute humorist by the name of Tom Lehrer who made a habit of lampooning the news of the day through quick-witted song. One of my favorites was one called Wernher von Braun, named after the Nazi engineer turned U.S. aerospace expert and director of the Marshall Space Flight Center for NASA. Von Braun's apolitical attitude towards his Nazi past led to one particularly biting lyric from Lehrer which was as follows, "once rockets are up, who cares where they come down, that's not my department says Wernher von Braun." Within that lyric lies the savage, dark and undeniable truth behind In the Loop, a movie so exact in it's satire that it might as well be a documentary.The U.S. and the U.K. are on the fast track to war with a never named Middle Eastern country (though given the timeline and consequences it's most certainly Iraq). As the governments of the two mighty nations prepare dockets, CIA testimonials, affidavits and the like, one British ministry head Simon Foster (Hollander) isn't towing the line. It is up to the foul-mouthed Director of Communications Malcolm Tucker (Capaldi) to keep him in line, lest he join Americans Assistant Secretary of State Karen Clarke and arm- chair General George Miller in creating a formidable inter- departmental dissent. Problem of course is Foster, or as staffers dub him Simon "Fluster" can't seem to make up his mind on the entire situation.In the Loop is largely based on the successful British TV political satire The Thick of It (2005-2012) which savagely lampooned the inter-workings of the British body politic. In the center of both the show and the film is the sharp and funny Peter Capaldi whose political maneuverings are outdone by his creative turn of phrases; "I will marshal all the forces of darkness to hound you into an assisted suicide" stands as probably his most tame quip. Otherwise he's on-screen bullying everyone in sight with choice four letter words.On the American side of the rigmarole is Liza Weld (Chlumsky) a staffer to the assistant secretary who wrote a working paper on the negative consequences of the war. Her paper makes the rounds around State Department and she finds her career is on the line when she realizes there are a few too many negatives. Luckily there's assistant secretary Linton Barwick (Rasche) who has a habit of redacting State Department materials before they're sent to the White House. Clarke on the other hand wants the information disseminated and doesn't care who is in the way to do it.Lest I make some of these characters sound heroic, they are not. Many act like Toby (Addison) a British staffer who only looks to further his career. It seems that many characters have stumbled onto an inconvenient truth on accident and are trying feverishly to cover their tracks. After all, the consequences of a war gone bad, is not on their shoulders but disagreeing with the White House and Downing Street respectively...they will single you out and drag your reputation through the mud.This amazingly sharp political satire is indeed not for everyone. Director Armando Iannucci (who also created The Thick of It and later Veep (2012) starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus) wanted everything to feel distinctively anti-West Wing (1999-2006). Instead of dramatic lighting and soaring musical accompaniment, most of the story is told with an almost Dogma '95 lack of style; the music almost none- existent and the lighting being supplied by florescent bulbs. Some audience members may find this in addition to the lack of camera dynamics to be unsatisfactory, especially if they're not interested in politics in any cursory sense.That said, In the Loop is one of the most ferocious political satires to come out of anywhere in a long time. The dialogue is gut- bustingly funny, the story is bleak yet joyous and the characters are petty, disloyal and superficial yet charming in a fully human way.

Robert Thompson (justbob1982) Version I saw: UK DVD releaseActors: 7/10Plot/script: 8/10Photography/visual style: 6/10Music/score: 5/10Overall: 7/10In the Loop may be Armando Iannucci's first film as a director, but it is built on over 20 years of experience in caustic satire. He began working with the likes of Chris Morris, Charlie Brooker, Steve Coogan and Stewart Lee in the early 90s on TV series The Day Today and Brasseye. More recently, his primary work has been on TV's The Thick Of It. They may deny it, but In the Loop is basically a movie spin-off of this series.Drawn from The Thick Of It are foul-mouthed spin-doctor Malcolm Tucker (Peter Capaldi), one of the more vibrant creations of British television in the last decade, and young speech-writer Toby Wright, played by Chris Addison. They journey to America with new character MP Simon Foster (Tom Hollander), after he accidentally aligns himself with one side in the covert campaigns to initiate a war with a Middle Eastern country. It's a fairly naked parody of the build-up to the 2003 War in Iraq.The underlying theme is about the difference between the confident and the hesitant. While those with the assertiveness and charisma to press forward their plans control major world events, the rest of us are left to fight over the scraps. Many characters in In the Loop have a great line in dry wit, until they are put under pressure or scrutiny, at which point their intelligence hilariously collapses.A great cast of remarkably versatile actors like Hollander, Capaldi and the late lamented James Gandolfini deliver the lines brilliantly, be they sharply witty or bumblingly hilarious. The script rightly won an Oscar nomination for Iannucci, regular The Thick Of It contributors Simon Blackwell and Tony Roche, and co-creator of UK TV's Peep Show, Jesse Armstrong.Some of the events and characters depicted are just possibly a little too close to reality to satisfy me completely of the creativity on show, but that is not the point. The focus is on the small people caught in big events, and the paralysing effect of blind panic on the reserved British psyche. That and Malcolm Tucker's genius for foul language...

bowmanblue If you like good political comedy then you should have become aware of the BBC TV series 'The Thick of It.' However, if this has escaped you then it's probably best to stop reading right now and go and watch it. The bottom line: if you like The Thick of It then you'll like In the Loop.It's basically the same animal, or a 'compendium piece' as I've heard it described. Whereas The Thick of It stayed in Britain, In the Loop also takes us to America where we see that U.S. politics is just as jaded and back-stabbing as its U.K. counterpart. The British Prime Minister and the American President fancy starting a war. The only problem is that there really isn't a good argument for starting one. Therefore, America enlists the help of Downing Street's legendary 'Enforcer' (or 'Director of Communications' to give him his correct title) Malcolm Tucker (perfectly played, as usual, by Peter Capaldi) to come up with some 'evidence' which supports the upcoming invasion.Sounds familiar? Well, it should. It's a case of art (sadly) imitating life as comparisons with George and Tony's handling of the invasion of Iraq are evident for all to see.It may not sound like an ideal source for comedy, but, handled well and you'll be cringing at one political mess after another. In fact, politics is probably better this way. At least these politicians are meant to be funny and entertaining. Their real life incarnations cause as many problems, but don't give us any good laughs along the way.The only thing you need to know (if you watched the TV series first) was that only Malcolm Tucker remains the same character. All the other regular faces from the TV show are there, but they play different characters (that confused me the first time I saw it, but eventually I got used to it!).