Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #18 in DVD
• Released on: 2009-08-24
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 102 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
One of the finest British comedies of the decade, In The Loop takes the genius of the small screen hit The Thick Of It, and fleshes it out into a blisteringly funny feature-length movie.

Written and directed by Armando Ianucci, the film basically follows a plan between the American President and the British Prime Minister to begin a war, and spin it to their advantage. Naturally, not everyone is so keen on the plan, and the problems arise when Simon Foster, the Minister for International Development, declares that a war isn’t foreseeable, a statement that soon gets seized upon. Then In The Loop deploys its not-so-secret weapon, as enter stage left comes the tour-de-force that is spin doctor Malcolm Tucker.

The character of Tucker will be familiar to fans of The Thick Of It, and here, he’s the absolute high point of a film packed with great moments. Foul-mouthed, vitriolic and a majestic comedy creation, much has been written in the past about Tucker’s similarities with Alastair Campbell. The parallels are startling, but it’s in Peter Capaldi’s outstanding portrayal of him that Tucker becomes the force of nature he is here.

Bolstered by an intelligent and incisive script, In The Loop is both an outstanding comedy and a first-rate satire, that only loses its momentum slightly in its final act. Yet by that stage, it’s more than justified both your expense and your time, and it’s virtually guaranteed to stay resident on many people’s rewatch pile too. One of the finest films of 2009. --Jon Foster

Synopsis
IN THE LOOP finds writer/director Armando Iannucci expanding his critically acclaimed satire THE THICK OF IT for the big screen and features a cast including Peter Capaldi (TORCHWOOD), James Gandolfini (THE SOPRANOS), Tom Hollander (PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN), Peter Capaldi (THE THICK OF IT), Steve Coogan (I'M ALAN PARTRIDGE) and former child star Anna Chlumsky (MY GIRL). The foul-mouthed comedy follows the US President and UK Prime Minister as they conspire to start a war and promote is as a 'good thing'. US General Miller (Gandolfini) disagrees, as does British Secretary of State for International Development, Simon Foster (Hollander). When the mild-mannered minister appears on TV, is quoted out of context and made to look like he endorses the conflict, he suddenly finds his every move under the watchful eye of the PM's amoral chief of communications (Capaldi). The Brits soon find themselves in Washington and at the centre of what will become an insurmountable 'mountain of conflict'.

Customer Reviews

The best comedy I've seen in years!
I came to check when the DVD of In the Loop would come out and was appalled to find 1 review, giving it 1 star.

This is undoubtedly the best film I have seen all year, and the best comedy I can remember seeing for many years. The entire Cinema was in hysterics for all 102 minutes of this film. It basically resembles The Thick of It, but with a much grander scale of chaos. Once again Peter Capaldi steals every scene he's in, with the most impressive foul language I have ever heard. I was interested to see how Tom Hollander would do as a replacement for Chris Langham, and I was not disappointed; his character is another magnificent bumbler, whose actions somehow contrive to have enormous repercussions across the globe.

Many of the cast from The Thick of It return in new roles, but this works perfectly well, while the return of the magnificently sweary Malcolm Tucker and Jamie MacDonald was more than welcome.

Do not listen to the 1-star review already posted. This film is a comic masterpiece, and underlines the talent of Armando Iannucci and his cast. Amazon could sell this DVD at 10 times the price given, and you would still not waste your money. As you can probably tell, I really can't state enough what a great film this is!

In The Loop
Prior to the release of In The Loop, Alastair Campbell said the film portrayed politicians and their advisers as crass and venal, which had never been his experience whilst in government. Then on the eve the film's release, Smeargate hit (I know, it sounds messy), with the expenses scandal to follow a few weeks later, proving that politics was indeed crass and venal. Iannucci 1 Campbell 0.

On the eve of `a war' in the Middle East, Minister for International Development Simon Foster (Tom Hollander) accidentally states that war is "unforeseeable". This ambiguous statement is seized upon by both the hawks and doves in Washington, with each seeing Foster as their poster boy. On hand to clean up the...mess, is the Prime Minister's spin doctor Malcolm Tucker (Peter Capaldi).

In The Loop is effectively a stretched out version of Iannucci's award winning television series The Thick of It., but one of the only characters linking the two is Peter Capaldi's ferocious government spin doctor Malcolm Tucker. Loosely based on Alastair Campbell, who claims Tucker is nothing like him (the gentlemen doth protest too much methinks), Capaldi's is an absolute joy to watch, as he spits fury at the bumbling government officials, both elected and unelected. Roughly every third word which comes from Tucker's mouth is a word you'd never use around your mother, but the writing is so intelligent, that it's impossible not to laugh as he spits fury.

Despite portraying Her Majesty's government as blundering fools, the rest of the British cast put in strong performances. Tom Hollander's government minister is the perfect example of the new generation of career politician which currently fills the government benches, and Chris Addison's Toby continues this in his role as a government adviser...despite being younger and significantly less experienced than the minister who he his advising.

When the storyline pops across the Atlantic to Washington D.C. and New York, the film does loose it's way slightly, as British audiences will naturally relate more to their own corridors of power and officials than they do those in the US. This doesn't mean that the US cast are left wanting for material, with some of the best jokes coming from the American counterparts, such as when James Gandolfini's General Miller adds up troop numbers on a child's computer.

Despite the drop in pace, transferring the action to the US is essential, as it exposes the real `special relationship' which exists between the two countries - America leads whilst Britain follows. Even when he travels to the White House and the United Nations, the force ten hurricane that is Malcolm Tucker finds himself pushed towards the periphery.

What makes In The Loop all the more brilliant is that once you've finished laughing at the superb performances and Iannucci's razor sharp script, you'll realise that the political world portrayed in the film is all too similar to our own, and that if this is how the world is being governed, we're all up the preverbal creek without a paddle.

The Verdict
Political satire of the highest standard - In The Loop definitely gets my vote!!!

Best comedy in years
If you don't like swearing, don't buy this film.

But for everyone else, who want a brilliant comedy, with brilliant laughs this is for you. Do not be put off by political comedy, it is so much more, it can be damn right filthy at times (although not necessarily a bad thing) but still delivers perfect nods-of-appreciation satire and send up of the glamour of American politics compared to English, and the bumbling-sometimes horrifying reason to start a war. It's full of lines that you will quote for the rest of your life.
I cannot recommend this film and the TV series on which it is based (the thick of it) enough, this cannot be missed.