Director and writer Armando Iannucci (Veep, I'm Alan Partridge) brings us a spin-off of the highly successful British satirical political comedy The Thick of It. In the Loop chronicles the tested and uneasy Anglo-American relations during the run-up to a war. Simon Foster (Tom Hollander), a minor minister in the British government, makes a mistake when he states that "war is unforeseeable" during a radio interview. Before he knows it, Simon is one of the British governments biggest media figures and is being sent to Washington D.C., along with aide Toby (Chris Addison), to meet with American political and military leaders. As Foster seems incapable of saying what he is supposed to; he ends up being caught in-between pro-war factions and those who oppose the conflict. Will military action take place?
I honestly can't understand why I haven't seen this film sooner; with its outstanding critical reviews and top cast. Peter Capaldi will stick clearly in your mind after watching In the Loop due to his scolding rants that are simply unrelenting and quite brilliant. Hollander produces a spot-on performance, delivering vulnerability and empty-minded hopelessness to the screen superbly. James Gandolfini also puts in a notable showing as under pressure General Miller.
The stand-out aspect of this picture has to be its academy award nominated script. Iannucci is a master of comedy as shown in some of his other work. In the Loop is no different with its non-stop satirical black comedy which is seriously funny. The plot is magnificent, the one-liners are very slick and the rants are simply hilarious (perfectly illustrated in the relationship between Chad (Zach Woods) and Liza (Anna Chlumsky)).
A very clever film. And watch out for scenes with an Iannucci favourite, Steve Coogan.
J.Henderson
8/10.
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