Film Review – In The Loop (2009)

The Big Screen Adaptation of the BBC’s Comedy The Thick of It

Apr 21, 2009

Armando Iannucci's feature length directorial debut is a well crafted political satire about the lead up to war and is so far the main contender for comedy of the year.

A look back over the history of TV shows making the transition to the big screen reveals that very few have taken a 30-minute story that can stretch out to a feature length yet still keep the quality. The League of Gentlemen’s Apocalypse was all style over substance, The Simpsons Movie was mind numbingly average, Porridge was awful, Guest House Paradiso ran on empty even it was 20 minutes long and Starsky & Hutch was bland. Mind you Serenity was good.

Now The Thick of It, BBC Four’s under-watched political comedy series about the internal workings of a British government department, becomes In The Loop as writer and director Armando Iannucci brings his vision to cinemagoers across the world.

The television equivalent took the rapier-like, intelligent political satire of Yes, Minister, dragged it through a school playground and peppered it with the most creative swearing ever broadcast on mainstream TV. In The Loop keeps the same documentary feel of its television cousin, the brutal language and a majority of the original cast – most playing different roles – in a classic case of if it isn’t broke don’t fix it.

The film follows a bumbling minister called Simon Foster (Tom Hollander, Pirates of the Caribbean series) who, after during a radio interview says that an unnamed war is “unforeseeable”, somehow becomes embroiled in a conflict between a pro-war section of Washington and a more pacifist group, all the while backed only by accident prone assistant Toby (Chris Addison, BBC Two's Lab Rats).

There are dodgy dossiers, secret war meetings, horrible press secretaries, macho insults, press leaks and even a case of life imitating art where a bored Foster states that he doesn’t want to watch porn in his hotel room in case it ends up on his expenses. You can’t make this stuff up apparently.

Peter Capaldi Chews the Scenery as Sweary Spin Doctor Malcolm Tucker

Peter Capaldi as Downing Street spin doctor Malcolm Tucker not only chews the scenery with glee but also threatens to punch through the screen and bite your face off. Forget horror villains, an unhinged, sweary Scotsman is much more terrifying than homicidal, chainsaw wielding maniacs or possessed 12-year-olds. Comparable to his turn in The Thick of It Capaldi is simply fantastic in this role and should receive an award somewhere down the line for services to profanity.

You’ve probably seen the promotional posters which mock the optimistic Barack Obama presidential campaign slogan of “Yes we can!” with the cynical “No you F****** can’t”. That’s all you need to know about Malcolm Tucker – he says it you do it. His best moment is his response to a further comment by Foster: “Climb the mountain of conflict? You sound like a Nazi Julie Andrews!”

Politics is the Same No Matter Who is in Charge

Some dull critics argue that the war tension and talk of doctored intelligence is out of date given that the Bush administration is gone but they would be missing the point (much like Michael Portillo did on Newsnight Review). Most of Iannucci’s work has always focused on the idea that no matter who’s in charge the structure of power and agenda in politics remains the same. If anything it brings out a hilarious scene where James Gandolfini's General demonstrates war tactics with a child’s toy.

It also doesn’t feel too long for what it is. If there’s any negatives to draw from the film they are down to a few lines on the American side of things falling short but that shouldn’t be enough to detract from what is not only a contender for comedy of the year but also comedy of the decade.

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