In the Loop (2009)
– Leave it to the Brits to turn the run-up to the Iraq War into a madcap update
of Dr. Strangelove. Not quite a movie version of the brilliant
BBC series The Thick of It (the same
cast appears, albeit most playing different roles), In the Loop finds spin doctor Malcolm Tucker (Peter Capaldi) very
much out of said loop, struggling to contain the press frenzy surrounding the
offhand remarks of a Cabinet minister (Tom Hollander) who said that war in the
Middle East was “unforeseeable.” When
the minister’s perpetual verbal blunders go viral, the pair find themselves
drawn into the orbit of Lt. General Miller (James Gandolfini) and Linton
Barwick (David Rasche), two American politicos on opposite sides of the
dove/hawk aisle. In the Loop is laugh-out-loud funny, even when the characters
aren’t trying to outswear each other; the kind of satirical buffoonery that
made Dr. Strangelove gets a
refreshing modern spin (pun intended) where the political world is a
Baudrillardian nightmare of know-nothings and power vacuums. The film is not the fastest paced movie
you’ll see all year, but the real delights are to be found in the dialogue
(most courtesy of writer/director Armando Iannucci’s Oscar-nominated
script). But as often happens in films
like this, the incredibly talented cast is given free improvisational rein,
lending the film flourishes like Capaldi’s practically melodious
profanity-laden tirades or a delightful cameo from Steve Coogan as a
disgruntled constituent. In short, In the Loop is one of the smartest and
funniest movies I’ve seen in a long time (and if I reviewed TV shows on here,
I’d say the same for The Thick of It).That does it for this week’s edition of “Monday at the Movies.” We’ll see you here next week!
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