Simon Dillon reviews the film

In The Loop

Armando Iannucci's In the Loop is a spin off from the BBC TV series The Thick of It. Essentially Yes Minister with loads of swearing, The Thick of It acquired a cult following as a scathing satire on the New Labour spin culture. In the Loop takes it's most acerbic character Malcolm Tucker (the excellent Peter Capaldi) and places him in a painfully funny and disturbingly believable tale of political shenanigans and dodgy dossiers as the US pushes for a war in the Middle East and tries to get the UK on its side.

In addition to the brilliant Capaldi, the rest of the cast do well in their various roles, especially Tom Hollander as cowardly politician Simon Foster whose inept mutterings to the press earn Tucker's wrath ("You sounded like a Nazi Julie Andrews!"). James Gandolfini (from the Sopranos) is also hilarious as a US general opposed to the war, Steve Coogan has an amusing cameo as one of Foster's disgruntled constituents, and there are good supporting parts for Anna Chlumsky, David Rasche, Chris Addison, Joanna Scanlan and Zach Woods.

Armando Iannucci's TV and radio back catalogue is an embarrassment of riches which includes Alan Partridge, Brass Eye and the monumentally brilliant The Day Today. In the Loop doesn't quite attain that level of genius, but its still terrific stuff, with Iannucci himself in the director's chair. In places it plays like a modern version of Dr Strangelove, but with swearing.

And herein lies my main problem with the film. The relentless, "enough-to-make-a-sailor-blush" profanity is undeniably funny at times, but I am also left with the nagging suspicion that it wasn't entirely necessary. Yes Minister and Dr Strangelove, as well as Iannucci's The Day Today, did much the same thing without swearing (or in the case of The Day Today, by bleeping out the worst of it). On the other hand, filthy language is such a defining characteristic of the odious Malcolm Tucker (allegedly based on Alistair Campbell), that perhaps without it his character would be nowhere near as effective.

Swear words aside, this is an absolutely merciless satire; so scathing it will leave New Labour with third degree burns. It's often screamingly funny, but the laughter leaves a bitter taste in the mouth since it is clearly based on the farce that led the UK into war in Iraq. As a damning indictment of spineless politicians and their advisors, this is fierce stuff and highly recommended. CR

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