| IN THE LOOP / stumbling over that fine line |
| Written by Sian Rafferty |
| Wednesday, 15 July 2009 09:54 |
 'In the Loop' is one of those rare political satires, which everyone will quote. Think 'Napoleon Dynamite', but actually funny. On par with 'Thank You For Smoking'; but British (I will leave you to draw your own conclusions here). One of those rarities which makes you puff with pride because you alone; found this little gem... and you forever, will have the credit of introducing all your friends to it. The sheer genius of it all is, it will stay out of the public’s eye because lets face it... it’s just not as accessible as 'Bruno' or 'South Park the Movie'. Having said that; ‘In the Loop’, directed by Armando lannucci, is a simple enough story. It is based on those confusing times before the invasion of Iraq. The media on both sides of the Atlantic; frantically latching onto any evidence suggesting the way things are going, while politicians try to stay as tight-lipped and ambiguous as possible. One tiny slip of the tongue from Cabinet Minister Simon Foster (Tom Hollander), sends events snowballing as the whole country erupts into; “Will they, Won’t they? They aren’t… THEY ARE?” fever, over the impending invasion. Hollander is perfect, as the clearly inadequate minister. Best known for 'Pride and Prejudice'-fame where he played Mr. Collins, he seems to be carving out a bit of a niche for himself. He plays the bumbling idiot who should never have been allowed to leave home in the first place, let alone put in a position of power. His simpering act commands the screen and you find yourself shaking your head in horror, just catching yourself in time... before you yell “NO, don’t do it!” at the screen, as his actions get more and more hopeless.  His character is perfectly complimented by Malcolm Tucker (Peter Capaldi), the communications chief who offers most of the superb one-liners in the film. His character was developed from the TV show 'The Thick Of It', as producers clearly felt this was a choice man; the whole world should embrace. Tucker is one angry Scottish guy and I don’t think he has a single line in the film, which he doesn’t season with a swear-word or death threat. The entire cast, both American and British, are superb. Toby Wright; Foster’s aid, is so clearly befuddled with trying to stay ahead of the game he inevitably put his foot in. These little instances are just cherries on top of the cake. Like when, in a moment of brilliance, he tries to convince his girlfriend he slept with an American at the Whitehouse... to stop the war. Just when you think it couldn’t get any worse, Steve Coogan arrives as a wacky local in Foster’s constituent, threatening to blow the fire from Foster’s highflying position.  This movie is the definition of laugh-a-minute comedy. In fact, I quite often found myself missing out on key jokes because I was laughing so hard at the one a few seconds earlier. Its secret is you don’t have to be a political analyst to understand the humour, as many of the jokes relate to Simon Cowell and Facebook, as they do Politics. A favourite of mine would have to be: “Don’t worry about the Canadians. They always look surprised whenever they get invited to something.” Indeed; there is no possible way I could ruin the best quotes for you, as this is a train of endless award-winning one-liners. The guys next to me, shook his head and covered his eyes. On my other side, the girl clasped her ears in horror and cried for her mummy. Me; myself? My whole body quivered as I covered my mouth thinking; “OMG, he so did not just go there.” Yet the one thing uniting the whole cinema, was that ripple effect of laughter which just bounced around the walls in waves. Do yourself a favour, just go and see it.  |
