Time: 105 Minutes
Age Rating: R13 – contains offensive language, sexual references
Cast:
Peter Capaldi as Malcolm Tucker
Tom Hollander as Simon Foster
Gina McKee as Judy Molloy
James Gandolfini as Lieutenant General George Miller
Chris Addison as Toby Wright
Director: Armando Iannucci

A political satire where Minister for International Development Simon Foster lands in trouble when he accidentally makes two contradictory statements about the Middle East war, during an interview.

I had been meaning to watch In the Loop for a while. I knew that it was a spin off from The Thick of It, a darkly comic show about politics, which features some of the same characters. I found it to be really good and entertaining.

In the Loop is a very snappy modern day political satire, and its script is very strong, brilliantly and colourfully written. It lacks the glamour of other similar political movies and really leans into highlighting the lunacy of the modern political system. Whether or not its intentional, it does feel like a take on the invasion of Iraq. The dialogue is sharp and memorable, and it is a hilarious movie throughout. I was constantly entertained, which is helped by the lightning pace. At the same time, there is a very dark undercurrent throughout the whole movie, and it balances the tones quite well.

There is a great assembled for this movie. The standout unsurprisingly is Peter Capaldi, reprising his The Thick of It character Malcolm Tucker here. He’s the source for most of the memorable dialogue, insults and of course uses of profanity. That said, it doesn’t stop at him. Everyone from Tom Hollander to James Gandolfini, Paul Higgins and more are incredible, hilarious, and they get their moments to shine.

The direction from co-writer (and creator of The Thick of It) Armando Iannucci is nothing flash. It is shot like a documentary (much like The Thick of It), with frequent handheld camerawork and uses natural lighting. I think it really works for the movie.

In the Loop is a hilarious dark political satire, incredibly well written and with great performances from the cast. At the very least, it made me more interested to check out The Thick of It. I don’t think its necessarily for everyone, but I think its worth checking out nonetheless.