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.
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.
liked it
Average Rating: 3/5
User Ratings: 221,025
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
Unrated, 1 hr. 42 min.
Art House & International, Comedy
Armando Iannucci, Jesse Armstrong, Tony Roche, Simon Blackwell
Jul 24, 2009 Wide
Jan 12, 2010
$2.3M
IFC
All Critics (167) | 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.
Painfully 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.
You feel like a fly on the wall inside of these meetings in the offices and you see how utterly ridiculous everybody is.
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The War Room has been replaced by drably decorated offices, insane army generals have been replaced by eerily sensible ones, and the man with the most power is not the POTUS but instead a PR-man with a filthy mouth.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.
Shot in fly-on-the-wall style, In The Loop is as expertly and continuously funny as any comedy in years.
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.
It is funny, and scarily so -- if you can convince yourself that you're not, in fact, watching a documentary.
For me it was far too wordy and I had difficulty understanding what was actually going on. The characters were really good with good actors and there were some mildly funny parts however it didn't really do much for me. It thought it was funnier than what it was and stuck to international stereotypes of the British and
October 8, 2011Super 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
Super Reviewer
| 35% | The Hangover Part II |
| 25% | Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Par... |
| 81% | Kung Fu Panda 2 |
| 44% | Cowboys & Aliens |
| 83% | Rise of the Planet of the Apes |
| 25% | Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Par... |
| 88% | Lady and the Tramp |
| 69% | A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas |
| 21% | Fireflies in the Garden |
| 45% | The Rebound |
Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 1
See the all-new action-packed trailer!
Five new Marvelous pictures
Unconventional Superheroes