Essentials: In the Loop

Year: 2009
Genre: Black Comedy/Political Comedy
Directed: Armando Iannucci
Stars: Tom Hollander, Peter Capaldi, James Gandolfini, Anna Chlumsky, Mimi Kennedy, Chris Addison, David Rasche
Production: BBC Films

In the 1960's there was a rather astute humorist by the name of Tom Lehrer who made a habit of lampooning the news of the day through quick-witted song. One of my favorites was one called Wernher von Braun, named after the Nazi engineer turned U.S. aerospace expert and director of the Marshall Space Flight Center for NASA. Von Braun's apolitical attitude towards his Nazi past led to one particularly biting lyric from Lehrer which was as follows, "once rockets are up, who cares where they come down, that's not my department says Wernher von Braun." Within that lyric lies the savage, dark and undeniable truth behind In the Loop, a movie so exact in it's satire that it might as well be a documentary.

The U.S. and the U.K. are on the fast track to war with a never named Middle Eastern country (though given the timeline and consequences it's most certainly Iraq). As the governments of the two mighty nations prepare dockets, CIA testimonials, affidavits and the like, one British ministry head Simon Foster (Hollander) isn't towing the line. It is up to the foul-mouthed Director of Communications Malcolm Tucker (Capaldi) to keep him in line, lest he join Americans Assistant Secretary of State Karen Clarke (Kennedy) and arm-chair General George Miller (Gandolfini) in creating a formidable inter-departmental dissent. Problem of course is Foster, or as staffers dub him Simon "Fluster" can't seem to make up his mind on the entire situation.

The Thick of It cast

In the Loop is largely based on the successful British TV political satire The Thick of It (2005-2012) which savagely lampooned the inter-workings of the British body politic. In the center of both the show and the film is the sharp and funny Peter Capaldi whose political maneuverings are outdone by his creative turn of phrases; "I will marshal all the forces of darkness to hound you into an assisted suicide" stands as probably his most tame quip. Otherwise he's on-screen bullying everyone in sight with choice four letter words.

On the American side of the rigmarole is Liza Weld (Chlumsky) a staffer to the assistant secretary who wrote a working paper on the negative consequences of the war. Her paper makes the rounds around State Department and she finds her career is on the line when she realizes there are a few too many negatives. Luckily there's assistant secretary Linton Barwick (Rasche) who has a habit of redacting State Department materials before they're sent to the White House. Clarke on the other hand wants the information disseminated and doesn't care who is in the way to do it.

Lest I make some of these characters sound heroic, they are not. Many act like Toby (Addison) a British staffer who only looks to further his career. It seems that many characters have stumbled onto an inconvenient truth on accident and are trying feverishly to cover their tracks. After all, the consequences of a war gone bad, is not on their shoulders but disagreeing with the White House and Downing Street respectively...they will single you out and drag your reputation through the mud.

This amazingly sharp political satire is indeed not for everyone. Director Armando Iannucci (who also created The Thick of It and later Veep (2012) starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus) wanted everything to feel distinctively anti-West Wing (1999-2006). Instead of dramatic lighting and soaring musical accompaniment, most of the story is told with an almost Dogma '95 lack of style; the music almost none-existent and the lighting being supplied by florescent bulbs. Some audience members may find this in addition to the lack of camera dynamics to be unsatisfactory, especially if they're not interested in politics in any cursory sense.

That said, In the Loop is one of the most ferocious political satires to come out of anywhere in a long time. The dialogue is gut-bustingly funny, the story is bleak yet joyous and the characters are petty, disloyal and superficial yet charming in a fully human way.

Final Grade: A