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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.
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