Review of In the Loop (2009) by Kaitlin L — 25 Mar 2013

"In the Loop" (2009) is a dark comedy and satire about UK and US politics that follows the individuals attempting to either start or stop a war in the Middle East. When the Prime Minister and President of the United States begin to contemplate war, it starts a chaotic discussion through the various branches of government. After the Minister of International Development, Simon Foster, makes two contradicting statements both for and against war in interviews, he and his aides are used as pawns for both sides, which ultimately brings more chaos to the situation through their rookie mistakes and information leaks.

I have a hard time comprehending politics and government happenings, so I thought I'd have a hard time enjoying or following this film. But that wasn't the case. It's a very smart, well-written movie with a lot great humor that anyone could follow. It's seems to be satirizing the events leading up to the invasion of Iraq in 2003, but that's the only political humor in the film. A lot of the comedy comes from the exchanges between characters. The discussions, the insults, and the awkward trash talk is brilliant and hilarious. But just as a warning, there is quite a bit of language, especially from the character Malcolm. According to IMDB, there are over 135 F-bombs dropped as well as many other profanities. So if you're the type person that doesn't find profanity humorous, this might not be a film you should watch.

The script was very impressive, and I'm not surprised that it was nominated for and won several awards. This film is worth watching just to see one example of good comedy writing in action. The pace was alright. It moved forward very casually. The performances were all pretty good, especially for this one character, Paul. Maybe it's because I watched this film late at night, but I found him to be hysterical. He's a citizen complaining about the minister's crumpling wall that's going to collapse on his mother's greenhouse. Every interaction with him was great.

Summed up, this is a smart British comedy. It's not laugh out loud funny, but it's worth watching, especially for the quality writing.