In The Loop [DVD] [2009] | ![In The Loop [DVD] [2009]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51lSPg1IW-L._SL160_.jpg) | Director: Armando Iannucci
Actors: Tom Hollander, Peter Capaldi, James Gandolfini, Harry Hadden-Paton, Samantha Harrington
Studio: Optimum Home Entertainment
Category: DVD
List Price: £17.99
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Rating:  87 reviews
Sales Rank: 134
Format: Anamorphic, PAL
Languages: English (Unknown), English (Subtitled), English (Original Language)
Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Region: 2
Aspect Ratio: 16:9 - 1.78:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 102 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.4 x 0.6
EAN: 5055201807588
ASIN: B002AQQVDC
Theatrical Release Date: 2009
Release Date: August 24, 2009
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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Amazon.co.uk Review
One of the finest British comedies of the decade, In The Loop takes the genius of the small screen hit The Thick Of It, and fleshes it out into a blisteringly funny feature-length movie. Written and directed by Armando Ianucci, the film basically follows a plan between the American President and the British Prime Minister to begin a war, and spin it to their advantage. Naturally, not everyone is so keen on the plan, and the problems arise when Simon Foster, the Minister for International Development, declares that a war isn’t foreseeable, a statement that soon gets seized upon. Then In The Loop deploys its not-so-secret weapon, as enter stage left comes the tour-de-force that is spin doctor Malcolm Tucker. The character of Tucker will be familiar to fans of The Thick Of It, and here, he’s the absolute high point of a film packed with great moments. Foul-mouthed, vitriolic and a majestic comedy creation, much has been written in the past about Tucker’s similarities with Alastair Campbell. The parallels are startling, but it’s in Peter Capaldi’s outstanding portrayal of him that Tucker becomes the force of nature he is here. Bolstered by an intelligent and incisive script, In The Loop is both an outstanding comedy and a first-rate satire, that only loses its momentum slightly in its final act. Yet by that stage, it’s more than justified both your expense and your time, and it’s virtually guaranteed to stay resident on many people’s rewatch pile too. One of the finest films of 2009. --Jon Foster
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 87
Bitter Sweet Satire July 7, 2010
Graham Mccarthy (Cheshire)
Reading the other reviews here it seems that In the Loop is one of those comedies that you either get or you don't. I'd suggest that you need to know who Alistair Campbell is and what part he played in the `doggy dossier' affair back in 2003. You would also be well served by knowing who Donald Rumsfeld and Colin Powell are and their parts in the 2nd Iraq war. If you're not familiar with these political episodes then In the Loop will probably seem chaotic and holding onto the narrative with be tough.
If you do follow politics and are/were familiar with the preamble to the 2nd Iraq war, then the film will make complete sense. Malcolm Tucker is a not even thinly disguised potty mouthed version of Alistair Campbell and if he isn't in a particular scene, you'll probably find yourself waiting for his next appearance, he is very much the hub of the plot. Alistair Campbell watched this film for BBC's `The Culture Show' and was none too impressed and didn't find it funny, that's how close to the truth it really is.
Yes Minister used to be funny because we just instinctively knew that it was true to life and it was this resemblance to reality that elevated it above other comedies of the era. In the Loop is exactly the same in this respect. On one level it is a very funny (if slightly obvious) satirical comedy where the one-liners come thick and fast and the relentless incompetence of all of the protagonists is writ large. Yet on another level it is disturbing because I strongly suspect that it is largely based upon fact and the end result was a war where many people lost their lives; in this respect it can be seen as one man's protest against the Iraq war.
In the Loop is an updated `Yes Minister', it is satirical, unrelentingly cruel, disturbing and yet (depending upon your taste) is very funny. The scene where the US 4 star general is in the White House working out troop numbers for the war on a child's talking calculator works on several levels and is a perfect example of the duality of the message. Armando Iannucci is a clever writer and I do like his style of humour (witness his radio and TV appearances) and has created a fine comedy. I confess that I do prefer `The Thick of It' where the subject matter is less controversial and consequently closer to a re-worked Yes Minister.
If you are offended by strong and politically incorrect language or you are not quite ready for your comedy to be so firmly anchored in a legally and morally questionable war, then you're probably not going to find yourself doing much laughing at In the Loop. If on the other hand you are ready for biting satire, bad language, so many one-liners you'll need a pen to remember them; oh, and an insight into the workings of the Blair government, you should watch this movie.
 A must for fans of 'The thick of it' June 17, 2010
S J Sharman (UK)
If you liked 'The thick of it' then you'll love this offering from Armando Ianucci, Peter Capaldi at his virulent best.
A wonderful follow-on from The Thick Of It June 2, 2010
DVDfever
In The Loop is effectively the film version of BBC4's The Thick Of It, a fantastic semi-improvised comedy directed and co-written by one of the best and most consistent in the business in the UK today, Armando Iannucci.
As the film begins, Radio 4's Eddie Mair talks Minister for International Development, Simon Foster (Tom Hollander), who was only there to talk about preventable diseases, into a discussion on plans for a US invasion of the Middle East, as if that would happen? ;)
Simon says he thinks the war is unforseeable, which leads to Malcolm to say out loud to himself, "No, you do not think that", then calling up Radio 4 and telling them that Simon didn't actually say that... and that while they may have heard it, he didn't actually say it. He'll also have to go on Question Time and backtrack on the issue.
Yes, Malcolm Tucker (Peter Capaldi) is in full effect, and Simon is going to find those words coming back to haunt him several times.
For those new to the series, Malcolm is the Director of Communications for No.10, aka the No.10 Enforcer/spin doctor. He makes decisions on behalf of the Prime Minister, or at least for as long as he can get away with it. Judy Molloy (Gina McKee) works alongside Foster as the Director of Communications for International Development, while Toby Wright (Chris Addison, right with Capaldi) is also brought in to work with the aforementioned MP.
In the US, the key characters are Karen Clark (Mimi Kennedy), US Assistant Secretary for Diplomacy; Liza Weld (Anna Chlumsky), one of her aides, who knows Toby from University, intimately; Linton Barwick (Sledge Hammer's David Rasche) who has formed a secret War committee but has changed the name so no-one finds out about it... for a while; and Lt General George Miller (James Gandolfini, below-right with Mimi Kennedy), Senior Military Assistant in the Pentagon who has seen action in war in the past and says it's not somewhere you want to go again... "like France".
The cast is rounded off with Jamie MacDonald (Paul Higgins), who works under Malcolm; Paul Michaelson (Steve Coogan, bottom-right with Joanna Scanlan as Roz) as a member of the public in Foster's constituency who's having a problem with a wall at his Mum's house which is on the verge of collapsing into her garden and crushing her greenhouse - the issue being that the wall *belongs* to Foster; and Michael Rodgers (James Smith), Director of Diplomacy, who plays his classical music far too loud for everyone. Smith's character also worked alongside Chris Langham who appeared in the original series of six episodes which were split into two lots of three, due to how they were made.
The Thick Of It always had consultants to make sure everything that goes on behaves in the same way to that in real life for the government, and this spin-off is no exception. One subject which rears its ugly head briefly here is that is MPs expenses and porno films. In fact, Armando Iannucci has said that when they wrote the script a year before the Jacqui Smith story broke about her husband's viewing habits, they thought it was so outlandish and no such thing could ever happen, and then along came Smith's husband ordering porn films on expenses just prior to the film's release at the cinema! You couldn't make it up!
The weirdest thing is that in The Thick Of It, Chris Addison played general dogsbody Oliver Reeder... whereas here he's called Toby Foster. Erm... why? He's basically the same character - especially since he's got the same girlfriend! - but under a different name suddenly appears new to Malcolm. What was that change all about?
Similarly, Olivia Poulet plays his girlfriend Emma Messinger in the TV series, working alongside Michael Rodgers, whereas here she's Suzy. Huh? This is all going to sound a bit cock-eyed when the series returns later this year.
Malcolm gets the best of the quotes with just about everything he says, while Chris Addison gets one or two and so does Paul Higgins as Malcolm's almost-as-sweary underling, Jamie MacDonald, when he refers to Michael Rodgers' classical aria music as "It's just vowels! Subsidised foreign (expletive-deleted) vowels!"
And I never knew there was a Facebook Chess game until I heard it mentioned in this film.
Reportedly 4½ hours of footage were shot for this film, or at least that's how it came out in the initial edit. Overall, In The Loop is very good, but less is more, and 106 minutes is rather too long. It works better as a 30-min show or the odd 60-min special. On the TV show there's more diversity in the cast members, whereas here it's the same people again and again.
Shot on hand-held digital cameras, this gives the right feeling to this film and keeps it perfectly in sync with the TV series and it comes across brilliantly crisp and clear with the England office scenes looking as dull and despressing as the flourescent lighting is meant to make it feel, and the outdoor scenes looking bright and colourful. The film is presented in a 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen frame. For the record, I'm watching on a Panasonic 37" Plasma screen via a Samsung BD-P1500 Blu-ray player.
The sound is in DTS 5.1 HD Master Audio Lossless and is really only used for dialogue, which comes across without a hitch. This obviously isn't a special FX film.
There isn't the room here to go into the extras, but they include interviews, deleted scenes, trailer, Webisodes and audio commentary.
The menu has a small amount of animation early on before mixing a bit more with quotes from the film, there are English subtitles but the Chaptering is, again for Optimum, appalling with just 12 over the near-two hours.
Film: 9/10
Picture: 10/10
Sound: 7/10
Extras: 4/10
Too funny to miss out on. May 24, 2010
A. THRIFT
This is a fantastically funny political satire brought to you by the writers etc of the BBC's The Thick of It. One of the funniest films I have seen in a long time, do not miss out!!
Hilarious! May 13, 2010
V. Cameron (London)
I absolutely loved this film. Please do not listen to the 1-star reviews already posted. This film is a comic masterpiece and brilliantly demonstrates Armando Iannucci's talent, and that of his cast. I have watched it a few times and I laugh more and more each time. Peter Capaldi is just brilliant. Anyone who doesn't think this is funny just doesn't have a sense of humour.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 87
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