IN THE LOOP ★★★★
Between Iraq and a hard place
we live in an era of hope and change in America, and that’s great. We’ve left behind the age of neocons, known unknowns and soon, we’ll be trying to leave behind the memories of the gigantic cock-up that was the Iraq war. But it’d be a real pity if the war ended and we didn’t have at least one good movie to show for it, right? Well, In the Loop is that movie.
It covers similar ground to Iannucci’s BBC political comedy The Thick of It, and most of the cast return, albeit in slightly different roles. Thankfully Peter Capaldi is back as Malcolm Tucker, Westminster’s very own antichrist, ripping his way through friends and rivals, and anyone who just happens to get in his way. The film captures the politicians and their underlings on both sides of the ‘Special Relationship’ as the US and UK hurtle towards war with an unnamed Middle Eastern nation. They’re a petty, sordid lot.
The serious points about Iraq are there to behold, but Iannucci presumes the audience have the smarts
not to need everything sign-posted for them. We know these lying bastards are lying to us, and Iannucci would rather give us a laugh than a lecture. Almost all the jokes work, from the minor visual gags that make you titter, to the remarkably foul-mouthed put-downs that make it hard to control your bladder. A political comedy that doesn’t ditch the serious stuff but still makes you laugh? Mission acomplished. OUT NOW.
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