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In the Loop

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In the Loop (2009)

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Reviews Counted:128

Fresh:121

Rotten:7

Average Rating:7.8/10

Consensus: In the Loop is an uncommonly funny political satire that blends Dr. Strangelove with Spinal Tap for the Iraq war era.

Runtime: 1 hr 46 mins

Genre: Action/Adventure

US Box Office: $2,251,324

Synopsis: IN THE LOOP is a fast-paced, lancet-witted ensemble comedy from first-time film director Armando Iannucci, based on his satirical BBC sitcom, THE THICK OF IT. The film tracks the lies,... IN THE LOOP is a fast-paced, lancet-witted ensemble comedy from first-time film director Armando Iannucci, based on his satirical BBC sitcom, THE THICK OF IT. The film tracks the lies, misunderstandings, good and bad intel, and PR blunders that escalate into a full-blown (fictional) crisis in the Middle East over the course of a few days, in a few conversations and meetings, in a few corridors of British and American power. Though played for laughs, the movie demonstrates how the most incidental factors (leaked papers, hastily spoken soundbites) and players (aides, interns, and low-level government officials) can influence the course of history. The pitch-perfect cast does a great job with Iannucci's script, improvising just enough to maintain the pseudo-documentary feel of the TV show. Even when the action gets loose and rollicking, the tone is tightly controlled satire, and the humor emerges organically from the situations and relationships at hand. Peter Capaldi, reprising his TV role, is hilarious as a foulmouthed, perpetually het-up Director of Communications for the British Prime Minister. Mimi Kennedy gives a droll but heartfelt performance as an antiwar U.S. diplomat and shares some touching and funny scenes with a more subdued than usual James Gandolfini as a U.S. general with surprising views on war. And Tom Hollander quietly steals the show as the hapless British Secretary of State for International Development whose careless remark in an interview sets off the events that catapult him into deeper waters than he has ever been in. [More]

Starring: Peter Capaldi, Tom Hollander, Gina McKee, James Gandolfini

Starring: Peter Capaldi, Tom Hollander, Gina McKee, James Gandolfini, Chris Addison, Mimi Kennedy, Steve Coogan, Anna Chlumsky

Director: Armando Iannucci

Director: Armando Iannucci
Screenwriter: Armando Iannucci, Jesse Armstrong, Tony Roche, Simon Blackwell
Producer: Kevin Loader, Adam Tandy
Composer: Adem Ilhan
Studio: IFC Films

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Reviews for In the Loop

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
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It's fantastic stuff, so over-the-top, so scabrous, so bitterly brilliant that you have to assume that, on some level, it rings true.

Full Review Source: Arizona Republic | comment 1 Comment
10/21/09
Bill Goodykoontz
Bill Goodykoontz
Arizona Republic

A relentlessly foul-mouthed political satire about an obscene process: the fabrication of a phony case for war to justify U.S. and British plans to invade the Middle East.

Full Review Source: Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN) | comment Comment
09/21/09
John Beifuss
John Beifuss
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)

With that singularly British way of being clever and deliriously juvenile all at once, it's a scathing, laugh-out-loud bit of big-screen satire.

Full Review Source: Times-Picayune | comment Comment
09/11/09
Mike Scott
Mike Scott
Times-Picayune

In the Loop is nonstop, go-go-go verbal action that makes Wag the Dog seem like a mind-numbing cricket match.

Full Review Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | comment Comment
09/10/09
Michele Kenner
Michele Kenner
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Think of it as a celebration of the craft of screenwriting. This British comedy is dense with brilliant, profane and telling dialogue, with laugh-out-loud zingers that just keep coming and coming -- though few can be quoted here.

Full Review Source: Florida Times-Union | comment Comment
09/10/09
Matt Soergel
Matt Soergel
Florida Times-Union

It's as if Jane Austen and Monty Python collaborated on an episode of The West Wing...

Full Review Source: Flick Filosopher | comment Comment
09/08/09
MaryAnn Johanson
MaryAnn Johanson
Flick Filosopher

If the corridors of power really are this dysfunctional, let's at least hope they're this funny, too.

Full Review Source: Capital Times (Madison, WI) | comment Comment
09/04/09
Rob Thomas
Rob Thomas
Capital Times (Madison, WI)

The first thing that marks In The Loop as a break from the norm is its refusal to flatter the viewer's intelligence; the second, is the way the film forces them to use it.

Full Review Source: SpoutBlog | comment Comment
09/03/09
Karina Longworth
Karina Longworth
SpoutBlog

There mayn't have been a funnier screenplay this year -- but the laughs are bitter ones.

Full Review Source: Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) | comment Comment
09/02/09
Ken Hanke
Ken Hanke
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

A clever work of realistic fiction.

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment Comment
09/01/09
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

In the Loop skewers the recent Bush administration without resorting to the childish name-calling which sunk 'W.'

Full Review Source: What Would Toto Watch? | comment Comment
08/31/09
Christian Toto
Christian Toto
What Would Toto Watch?

A vicious satire with ice in its veins and poison in its fangs.

Full Review Source: Creative Loafing | comment Comment
08/28/09
Matt Brunson
Matt Brunson
Creative Loafing

The plot of this film is impenetrable but the dialog is hilarious and comes a staccato pace. This is a comedy of political backbiting, in-fighting, and out-fighting.

Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
08/24/09
Mark R. Leeper
Mark R. Leeper
rec.arts.movies.reviews

Whereas several recent films like the pompous 'Lions for Lambs' presented the current war in a didactically solemn tone, Iannucci has more to say by simply playing the crisis for laughs.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
08/21/09
Dan Lybarger
Dan Lybarger
eFilmCritic.com

Painfully funny satire of British and American bureaucrats in the days leading up to the Iraq War.

Full Review Source: Hollywood Reporter | comment Comment
08/21/09
Kirk Honeycutt
Kirk Honeycutt
Hollywood Reporter

It's one verbal skirmish after another, dominated by Capaldi, whose character is smoothly offensive and determined, dropping F-bombs with natural ease.

Full Review Source: Jam! Movies | comment Comment
08/21/09
Jim Slotek
Jim Slotek
Jam! Movies

The film, while often very funny, is so relentlessly savage it could destroy whatever shred of respect you may still retain for politicians and that flogged horse called democracy.

Full Review Source: Toronto Star | comment Comment
08/21/09
Peter Howell
Peter Howell
Toronto Star

This politically savvy, satirical piece deserves to be seen by as many people as possible. The way the film shows governmental 'war rooms' as being beset by petty, personal conflicts is positively enlightening.

Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
08/21/09
Jeff Vice
Jeff Vice
Deseret News, Salt Lake City

One of the year's most intelligent (scripts), unifying political intrigue and backroom muckraking with stinging, pop-culture putdowns.

Full Review Source: Charlotte Weekly | comment Comment
08/21/09
Sean O'Connell
Sean O'Connell
Charlotte Weekly

The brainchild of British director Armando Iannucci, it takes on the politicians at their own dirty game, daring to fictionally embellish the tawdry facts, to out-spin the spin doctors.

Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | comment Comment
08/21/09
Rick Groen
Rick Groen
Globe and Mail
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
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