Review of In the Loop (2009) by Clark B — 16 May 2010

I thought this was the best comedy of 2009, maybe the best movie period, and I laughed myself silly watching it so I'm amazed at the number of poor user reviews on Netflix. The termater reviewers seem a little less uptight, to your credit.

It's a political satire of Brit-Yank relations that obviously mirrors the runup to the Iraq War. It's kind of like "Wag the Dog" only much faster paced and.. well, you know.. good. The big joke here is that in all this back room dealing, no one does the right thing - hawks or doves - they just spend all their energy trying to cover their own butts. It makes some salient points about the governments on both sides of the pond being absurdly disfunctional, and that war is treated more as a career move by the players than anything else. But in service of that theme are a rapid fire string of insults, back stabbing and jaw droppingly creative uses of profanity. (Ex. A British aide speaking about Washington: "You know they're all kids in Washington? It's like Bugsy Malone, but with real guns." That's one of the few PRINTABLE examples.).

It's hilarious but I should probably tread carefully in recommending it. If naughty words make your cheeks flush, you better skip this. There are a LOT of dirty words. A LOT, some that made me a little faint! But if you like British humor, Don Rickles or maybe even "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" I think you'll like it. But what the hell do I know? Everyone on Netflix seems to be giving it one star. (Note: I watched this with the subtitles on. The accents can get a little thick and I didn't want to miss a word. Especially the witty stuff about a lubricated horse co.. um.. well.. nevermind.).