In The Loop
Director: Armando Iannucci
Cert: 15
Time: 1 hr 46 mins
Released in the midst of the Damien McBride smear saga, writer/director Armando Iannucci has touched the zeitgeist in a way he could never have envisaged when he was creating this wonderfully prescient comedy.
Those of you familiar with the TV series The Thick of It, will already be familiar with Malcolm Tucker (brilliantly played by Peter Capaldi) the foul mouthed master of control and spin who bears an uncanny resemblance to Alistair Campbell - he has seen the film but didn’t find it particularly funny.
The story follows the political machinations which led to a US / British sponsored war in the Middle East. And in so doing it shows the depths to which politicians, their advisors and the military will stoop to climb the greasy pole and save their own skins. All are skewered none more so than Simon Foster (Tom Hollander) a hapless British Secretary of State who, like a child seeking attention, backs the war in order to engineer a central role in the affair.
No one escapes with their reputation intact and whilst one must not forget that it is farce I suspect that it’s closer to reality than anyone is prepared to admit. A must if you enjoy politics and current affairs.
Rating 4/5
Patrons: 14
CA
