In the Loop (2008)
Average Rating: 7.8/10
Reviews Counted: 167
Fresh: 157 | Rotten: 10
In the Loop is an uncommonly funny political satire that blends Dr. Strangelove with Spinal Tap for the Iraq war era.
Average Rating: 7.8/10
Critic Reviews: 36
Fresh: 34 | Rotten: 2
In the Loop is an uncommonly funny political satire that blends Dr. Strangelove with Spinal Tap for the Iraq war era.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.1/5
User Ratings: 223,683
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
Jul 24, 2009 Wide
Jan 12, 2010
$2.3M
IFC
Watch It Now
Cast
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Peter Capaldi
Malcolm Tucker -
James Gandolfini
General Miller -
Tom Hollander
Simon Foster -
David Rasche
Linton Barwick -
Gina McKee
Judy Molloy -
Chris Addison
Toby -
Steve Coogan
Paul Michaelson -
Anna Chlumsky
Liza Weld -
Mimi Kennedy
Karen Clarke -
Harry Hadden-Paton
Civil Servant -
Samantha Harrington
Malcolm's Secretary -
Olivia Poulet
Suzy -
James Smith
Michael Rodgers -
Zach Woods
Chad -
Enzo Cilenti
Bob Adriano -
Lucinda Raikes
Reporter -
James Doherty
Reporter -
Reid Sasser
Airport Security Offici... -
Johnny Pemberton
A.J. -
Chipo Chung
Annabelle Hsin -
Del Pentecost
White House Tourist -
Joanna Scanlan
Roz -
Joanna Brookes
Mrs. McDiarmid -
Rita May
Mrs. Michaelson -
Paul Higgins
Jamie MacDonald -
Alex MacQueen
Sir Jonathan Tutt -
Eve Matheson
New Minister -
Will Smith
New Advisor -
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All Critics (171) | Top Critics (37) | Fresh (159) | 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.
Top CriticPainfully funny satire of British and American bureaucrats in the days leading up to the Iraq War.
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.
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.
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.
This is the funniest movie of the summer.
Satire hasn't felt this sharp since BrassEye.
In the Loop has some of the most colorful language you'll find in any piece of cinema, rivaling movies like Kevin Smith's Clerks. And this is a hilarious thing.
Avoid the latest Apatow/Rogen template trash and give this a go, I promise you will not be disappointed.
There's only so much wittiness and quips we can watch before we get irritated at the fact that not much actually happens.
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.
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.
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.
The more faith you have in government, the more uncomfortable In the Loop will make you
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.
If you enjoy back-hall political wrangling mixed with British humor, you'll have a heck of a time.
Could the entrance into the Iraq War really have been as petty and misguided as this?
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.
Who can resist using the nastieth filth in the English language to run a country?
In the Loop is political satire at its best, leaving you giggling at the one-liners yet feeling complete despair about the political process.
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.
In the hands of British comic genius Armando Iannucci, the backroom chicanery of global politics mobilises a full-frontal assault on the funnybone.
Audience Reviews for In the Loop
Super Reviewer
Super Reviewer
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- Paul Michaelson: She doesn't have a hose, she's got a watering can.
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- Malcolm Tucker: Hand me the paper. The Telegraph has a cartoon of you teetering on the Great Wall of China suggesting that you are the only political fuck-up visible from space. Look at this!
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- Malcolm Tucker: Your purview? Where do you think you are, some regency costume drama? This is a government department, not a fucking Jane fucking Austen novel! Allow me to pop a jaunty little bonnet on your purview and ram it up your shitter with a lubricated horse-cock!
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- Malcolm Tucker: I will marshall all the media forces of darkness to hound you to an assisted suicide!
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- Malcolm Tucker: You may have heard him say that, but he didn't say it, and that's a fact.
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- Malcolm Tucker: Hey, General Flinstone!
Discussion Forum
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