In The Loop

This British political satire made by Armando Ianucci documents political relationships between Britain and America as the politicians and PR representatives struggle to outmanoeuvre each other so that they hold the power in declaring war on a Middle Eastern country.

Although, for my taste, it suffers because of the phenomenal amount of swearing (which made me laugh, but unfortunately stopped it being quotable), In The Loop is a very funny and intuitive observation of what happens out of sight of the general public. In a time when people are suspicious about why politicians got into politics in the first place, this is a timely warning that politicians are not above the law and that it’s not simply the temporary lightweight enemy of the tabloid press but the heavy-weight influence of film that will hold politicians accountable for what they are doing.

Satire is so much fun! The one-upmanship exhibited by each of the characters – to varying degrees of success –drives the plot of the film. There is pretty much no “good guy”, as everyone shows their flaws and selfish motives.

There are two horrible Scotsmen, which, having not seen the TV series, I particularly enjoyed. One trashes a fax machine, as a visual aid. The other, Malcolm Tucker, (Peter Capaldi) is the most manipulative horrible man in the film – only interested in who he can ‘own.’ He is involved in the power play throughout and is clearly far more adept at handling the pressure than Simon Foster (Tom Hollander), who is horrible too, but somehow so pathetically manipulated from start to finish, it becomes possible to feel sorry for him.

Things come to a head in the power play in the “Meditation Room” a typically multi-faith semi-religious-feeling space where people go to plot and scheme with each other, or simply eat mints and stress out. It is here that Malcolm Tucker, for the first time in the film is undone and looks completely beaten. But in a moment of ingenious comic thinking, he turns the entire situation to his advantage (at the expense of pretty much everyone else). I love how typically British it is to have the most horrible character win!

In the final analysis, if you're not shy of a swear word or two hundred, then definitely give this film a watch.