Naughty Mouthed People and the Fate of the World

Movie Review: In the Loop

In the Loop

Directed By: Armando Iammucci

Written By: Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Ian Martin, and Tony Roche

Starring: Peter Capaldi, Tom Hollander, Gina McKee, James Gandolfini, Chris Addison, Anna Chlumsky, Paul Higgins, Mimi Kennedy, Olivia Poulet, David Rasche, Steve Coogan, and Zach Woods

Director of Photography: Jamie Cairney, Editors: Anthony Boys and Billy Sneddon, Production Designer: Cristina Casali

Rated: R for language

Meet Malcolm Tucker: He’s the director of communications for the prime minister of her majesty’s country, Great Britain. Though you would expect someone who is clever with his mouth, many might read Tucker as the complete opposite. In meetings, on the phone, and simply when relaxing, Tucker can’t help but throw a number of explicit words into his sentences. His voice, as brought to life by British actor Peter Capaldi, is a walking quote machine through his vulgarity and constant screaming, though hardly safe enough for office gags. But Tucker grabs his power through his words—his ability to use words that others won’t, and show his power of them because of it.

If Hamlet had seen the new war comedy In the Loop, he might comment that the theme is words, words, words, though it mainly deals with the type not suitable for print. A partial adaptation of the UK show The Thick of It (In which Mr. Capaldi’s character was a part of), director Armando Iannucci and his group of screenwriters spin a tale of weaving maniacal and often ludicrous politicians whose immature humor has some more than dangerous consequences. It all begins when Tucker’s deputy Simon Forester (Tom Hollander) tells the media that a US war in the Middle East is “unforeseeable” (to comprehend exactly what unforeseeable means might take longer than you think). To Tucker, unforeseeable is a big, big no—the UK is ready to back the United States into a dangerous set of events. But Forester, along with his new assistant Toby (Chris Addison), become bait in a bigger trap as politicians on both sides of the Atlantic play the word game in order to either stop or lead the bombs to the desert. The battle plays between Downing Street and Pennsylvania Ave as behind the scenes men crack jokes and make plays to letting the bombs go off.

In the Loop could have been its own TV series as well, considering the amount of characters Mr. Iannucci weaves, each perfect in their own right. Take Mimi Kennedy and James Gandolfini as a State Department assistant and a general respectively—neither cares for war, but the most action they are willing to take is to order some Chinese. Or the scathingly fun Anna Chlumsky as Liza, an lower level worker whose war document “PWPPIP” (Post War Planning: Parameters, Implications, and Possibilities) becomes essential evidence for both sides, who spends most of her time railing off the likes of Chad (Zach Woods), an intern with networking as his only strategy. Or my personal favorite, Tucker’s favorite aide Jamie (Paul Higgins), who is the only man able to carry as much as an angry, destructive presence as Tucker.

Shooting his film very much like The Office, Mr. Iannucci speeds through characters and situations who drop lines that describe people as a “Nazi Julie Andrews” or comment “I can’t stand to see a woman bleed from the mouth. It reminds me of that Country & Western music.” The subject of the scenes are often of the highest order and the magnitude even greater, but In the Loop spins the words into a farce of the same height (Mr. Iannucci actually hired one of his writers simply to add swear words to the script). To call this the funniest film of the year might be an understatement—its one of the funniest films since we met Judd Apatow or Sacha Baron Cohen.

If In the Loop fails, it might be though its bite is surely greater than its bark. While it is all laughs, sometimes the real message of the film seems murky, and only starts to develop near the end of the film is how crucial words can be. It’s all public knowledge now how much our latest war was sold on the trust of words, and though it seems out of date now, its still relevant. But In the Loop is sometimes to meandering and focused on laughs to let those moments truly shine.

Yet for all its worth, In the Loop does make a loud bark, and Mr. Iannucci has crafted the kind of comedy that only comes around a few times. In a way, In the Loop seems to show that even at the tallest order of history, the men who make decisions are just as determined to hold their own reputation instead of that of the world, and use their words as their defense. One subplot involves Forester ignoring a quirky man (the lovable Steve Coogan) who worries that the brick wall in his mother’s yard might fall). But with power just beyond his grasp, Forester is too blind to realize that his words have real consequences, and actions, will always speak louder than words, even if they are the insults of Malcolm Tucker.

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