In the Loop

"Scathingly funny," says Popcorn Diary
"War is unforeseeable." It was an off-the-cuff comment by British government official, Simon Foster that brought down the wrath of the Prime Minister's chief enforcer and attack dog, Malcolm Tucker. In trying to dig his way out, Simon is then caught in another off-the-cuff interview talking about "climbing the mountain of conflict." In the meantime, US government official, Karen Clarke and General George Miller are hoping to short circuit mounting pressure for war on the US side. Thinking they've identified a like-minded Brit, they invite Simon to Washington to attend some conferences. Simon is sick of the know-it-all attitude of long-time staffer, Judy, so he takes the new hire, Toby. When Toby leeks details about the secret war committee meeting to CNN, the whole fiasco becomes a media feeding frenzy. Malcolm is less than pleased. He doesn't like to "learn anything about a British government official on TV unless they've died." And if words could kill, Simon would die a very brutal...

"The Office" goes to war - a very clever and dark satire on international politics
"In the Loop" is a sharp and witty and funny and depressing take on the office politics of politics. Simon Foster is the ambitious but largely clueless and weak-willed British "minister for international development." When he makes the mistake of suggesting, contrary to the official British position, that an imminent war was "unforeseeable" on a BBC radio interview, he is colorfully and harshly reprimanded by the British press secretary who seems incapable of putting three words together without a creative interjection of expletives. Simon suddenly finds himself in the midst of a power struggle between hawks and doves (both UK and US) and interns and career politicians, some who care about whether the war (ostensibly the war in Iraq, which is never actually mentioned) proceeds and, mostly, others who care more about their own future in politics. The point is that even when it comes to matters of greatest urgency, the petty and small are never far off. It's a clever and very funny...

Get ready to laugh... a lot.
"In the Loop" is blisteringly profane (a full 10 on the "Deadwood" scale), but in a smart way; it received an Oscar nomination for best adapted screenplay. In a scenario that is probably closer to the truth than anyone would ever admit, an unfortunate British undersecretary answers a fairly bland question about the possibility of Mideast war during a radio interview. An awkward response to that unexpected query triggers a storm of political shenanigans in London and D.C. Hilarity ensues. James Gandolfini is the only name actor (for U.S. audiences), and his not-that-hawkish general is a delight to watch. Peter Capaldi plays the British prime minister's hatchet man with fire and brimstone that is awe inspiring. His f-bomb laden verbal attacks on... well, pretty much anyone within 100 yards, are jazz riffs of obscenity. Classic stuff, smart, razor sharp. Don't miss the deleted scenes; they're as funny as the best bits of the regular feature. If you love satire, you'll love this.

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