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In the Loop

In the Loop (2008)

tomatometer

94

Average Rating: 7.8/10
Reviews Counted: 164
Fresh: 154 | Rotten: 10

In the Loop is an uncommonly funny political satire that blends Dr. Strangelove with Spinal Tap for the Iraq war era.

93

Average Rating: 7.8/10
Critic Reviews: 30
Fresh: 28 | Rotten: 2

In the Loop is an uncommonly funny political satire that blends Dr. Strangelove with Spinal Tap for the Iraq war era.

audience

77

liked it
Average Rating: 3/5
User Ratings: 221,818

My Rating

Movie Info

The run-up to war makes for curious rivalries and uneasy alliances in this political satire from director and co-screenwriter Armando Iannucci. Simon Foster (Tom Hollander) is a minor minister of international development with the British government who, in the midst of a radio interview, casually tells a reporter "war is unforeseeable." However, the prime minister is being pressured to commit British troops to support American forces in the Middle East, and communications director Malcolm

Jan 12, 2010

$2.3M

IFC

Cast

All Critics (168) | Top Critics (31) | Fresh (156) | Rotten (10) | DVD (9)

It's fantastic stuff, so over-the-top, so scabrous, so bitterly brilliant that you have to assume that, on some level, it rings true.

October 21, 2009 Full Review Source: Arizona Republic | Comments (2)
Arizona Republic
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Painfully funny satire of British and American bureaucrats in the days leading up to the Iraq War.

August 21, 2009 Comment
Hollywood Reporter
Top Critic IconTop Critic

The film, while often very funny, is so relentlessly savage it could destroy whatever shred of respect you may still retain for politicians and that flogged horse called democracy.

August 21, 2009 Full Review Source: Toronto Star | Comment
Toronto Star
Top Critic IconTop Critic

The brainchild of British director Armando Iannucci, it takes on the politicians at their own dirty game, daring to fictionally embellish the tawdry facts, to out-spin the spin doctors.

August 21, 2009 Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | Comment
Globe and Mail
Top Critic IconTop Critic

This enormously witty satire follows a British diplomatic staff as they fly to Washington to confer with their U.S. counterparts, who are secretly ginning up an invasion of the Middle East.

August 20, 2009 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | Comment
Chicago Reader
Top Critic IconTop Critic

You feel like a fly on the wall inside of these meetings in the offices and you see how utterly ridiculous everybody is.

August 3, 2009 Full Review Source: At the Movies | Comment
At the Movies
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Avoid the latest Apatow/Rogen template trash and give this a go, I promise you will not be disappointed.

March 13, 2011 Full Review Source: What Culture | Comment

There's only so much wittiness and quips we can watch before we get irritated at the fact that not much actually happens.

October 29, 2010 Full Review Source: Moviedex | Comment

The War Room has been replaced by drably decorated offices, insane army generals have been replaced by eerily sensible ones, and the man with the most power is not the POTUS but instead a PR-man with a filthy mouth.

October 21, 2010 Full Review Source: Quickflix | Comment

Not since "Three Kings" has war satire felt as gloriously agitated and acerbic. Brimming with "The Office's" British-born briskness, Armando Ianucci's film doles out diabolical wit and depressing truths about corrosive careerism and boomeranging policies.

September 24, 2010 Full Review Source: Suite101.com | Comment
Suite101.com

Peter Capaldi chews himself great big chunks of scenery in a role some might think over the top, but having worked with tyrants like this in the past, I thought was moderate to restrained.

July 4, 2010 Comment
Screenwize

The more faith you have in government, the more uncomfortable In the Loop will make you

May 9, 2010 Full Review Source: Movie Habit | Comment
Movie Habit

Accessible even for those not interested in politics, In The Loop is easily the funniest film of the year so far, and to boot, one of the most intelligent.

April 15, 2010 Full Review Source: Fan The Fire | Comment
Fan The Fire

If you enjoy back-hall political wrangling mixed with British humor, you'll have a heck of a time.

April 2, 2010 Full Review Source: Oscar Guy | Comment
Oscar Guy

Could the entrance into the Iraq War really have been as petty and misguided as this?

March 16, 2010 Full Review Source: LarsenOnFilm | Comment
LarsenOnFilm

The plot isn't the most important part of this flick. It's about the characters and watching them screw up in the most stunning ways... It's the comedy of failure.

February 25, 2010 Full Review Source: Triple j | Comment
Triple j

Who can resist using the nastieth filth in the English language to run a country?

February 24, 2010 Full Review Source: Cinema Signals | Comment
Cinema Signals

In the Loop is political satire at its best, leaving you giggling at the one-liners yet feeling complete despair about the political process.

January 31, 2010 Full Review Source: Cinema Autopsy | Comment
Cinema Autopsy

Prepare yourself for an hour and a half of political farce made only funnier by the fact that these ludicrous actions and explanations all feel so terrifyingly plausible.

January 30, 2010 Full Review Source: smh.com.au | Comment
smh.com.au

In the hands of British comic genius Armando Iannucci, the backroom chicanery of global politics mobilises a full-frontal assault on the funnybone.

January 21, 2010 Full Review Source: Herald Sun (Australia) | Comment
Herald Sun (Australia)

Shot in fly-on-the-wall style, In The Loop is as expertly and continuously funny as any comedy in years.

January 21, 2010 Full Review Source: The Age (Australia) | Comment
The Age (Australia)

If you only watch a scene or two on the internet, it's hilarious. Watch it all and it's a little tiresome and unconvincing.

January 21, 2010 Full Review Source: Sydney Morning Herald | Comment
Sydney Morning Herald
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for In the Loop

Blazingly fast comic zinger of a film connecting everything from a flower wall in London to a blossoming war in Iraq seen from the offices and bedrooms of middle level politicos and desperate wannabes. Hold on ... its a great ride. Exuberant. Warning! Not for gentle ears! Highly advanced and scatological cursing

March 19, 2012
moonrivers

Super Reviewer

The Americans fancy another war, so backroom spin doctor Peter Capaldi sets about making sure that his British ministers tow the party line and take it up the ass in the name of our "special relationship". In The Loop is basically a big screen version of British political satire The Thick Of It, but incredibly it

August 24, 2009
garyX
xGary Xx

Super Reviewer

    1. Malcolm Tucker: Fucking hung up, haven't you? You fucking hoity-toity fucking...
    2. White House Tourist: Hey, buddy? Enough with the curse words, all right?
    3. Malcolm Tucker: Kiss my sweaty balls, you fat fuck!
    – Submitted by Phil B (12 months ago)
    1. Paul Michaelson: Am I calm? I'm fucking ZEN!
    – Submitted by Chris P (13 months ago)
    1. General Miller: Twelve thousand troops. But that's not enough. That's the amount that are going to die. And at the end of a war you need some soldiers left, really, or else it looks like you've lost.
    – Submitted by Chris P (13 months ago)

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