Review of In the Loop (2009) by Dawdlingpoet — 24 Nov 2021

First off, I feel I have to point out the constant profanities (ie. swearing) resent throughout this film - its not for the easily offended, swearing wise, shall we say lol hence the 15 rating as many especially crude words are uttered multiple times, such as the 'f' word and even the 'c' word. You've been warned(!).

The way its filmed, it looks scarily realistic. I suppose there is some slightly shaky camerawork - its quite a quick moving, um, film and you need to give it your full attention to keep up with the storyline. It definitely has that on the go, documentary type feel to it, as if the scenes were recorded by some secret undercover reporter or something similar. I found myself thinking it reminded me of the US drama 24 in terms of the pace, obviously the political element in general and the ominous undertone, plus the fact we (as viewer) know who is leaking what fairly early on and just have to see how things pan out.

I felt that this seemed more like a longer version of a TV show rather than a feature film in itself - obviously it does have its own story but I wouldn't say it has quite the usual start, middle and end format that most sort of typical films do. Of course this is basically the film version of the UK TV program entitled 'The Thick Of It' but you don't have to have seen the program in order to understand or enjoy the film, though I believe it features many of the same characters, such as Malcolm Tucker, the foul mouthed spin doctor played by the current Doctor Who actor, Peter Capaldi. It was amusing enough seeing him portray such a different character, definitely less child friendly than Doctor Who! he says things as they are - yes, one of 'those' characters. The dialogue is very quick and sharp between Malcolm and colleagues, constant sniping at one another, finger pointing and blame passing etc. yes, welcome to the world of political spin(!).

I found myself feeling entertained by some of the things the film pokes fun at, such as the use (importance/bewilderment (certainly by us poor general public)) of buzz words and the like. Certain 'off the cuff' phrases are picked up and used to certain characters discomfort. There are some fairly serious messages or themes covered, things that may make you think about the media and politics, what goes on and so forth but mainly its an entertaining comedy drama more than anything else, I'd say.

Other noteworthy characters include Simon Foster, the British Minister for Internatonal Development, played by Tom Hollander and Toby Wright, a young, newly hired assistant I presumed, played by Chris Addison. The two of them play bumbling fools and play their parts quite well - Simon proving himself to be of little use when appearing at certain important committee meetings both in Britain and in Washington (DC, USA). It amused me that it was left to Malcolm to pick up the numerous pieces and to try and get them to tow the line, so to speak. Also appearing in the film is the late James Gandolfini, who plays Lt. General George Miller, a military official who is also quite gruff and to the point. Steve Coogan also plays a small-ish part, portraying Paul Michaelson, a local constituent who keeps pestering Simon about his troublesome wall in his back garden (believe it or not).

This is quite an amusing, diverting film - its pretty dark in humour and obviously is mainly on a political theme and all the rest of it but I did enjoy it for the most part, although if your not keen on heavy swearing then this will likely offend you and thus not be for you. Yes I'd recommend this film, as I thought it was pretty entertaining and diverting and it seems almost scarily realistic. Its not too boring or dry and it doesn't go on for hours and hours, (at around about an hour and 45 minutes in total), so it could be worse. However, it isnt for the easily offended, due to the heavy swearing present and if your not at all interested in politics and UK-US relations, then this may well bore you or otherwise not interest you from the outset. There are numerous (political) satirical shows and films around - this one is pretty good but maybe not the best of the best? - its certainly not awful either though.