Synopsis: In The Loop, a political farce comedy about the US President and the UK Prime Minister trying to start a war.
Release Date: July 24, 2009 MPAA Rating: PG-13
Genre(s): Comedy, Political Satire
Film Review
Production
Politics is nasty business. Someone knows something, someone else wants to know, another person is trying to stop everyone from knowing, and another is confused about how he got involved in all this nonsense, to begin with. Enter In The Loop with its satirical look at the world of politics from both the British and American sides. War is on the horizon, or so many believe, and one paper written by an assistant on the pros and cons of war is about to tear the roof off the Capitol Building and Parliament. Good times indeed.
Writing
The language! If politics were this interesting, funny, controversial, and completely unpredictable more people may actually watch the live broadcasts of Cabinet meetings and the like. Then again, In The Loop is a political satire so the reality of the political world is highly exaggerated and politically incorrect to the extremest degree. Then there is the language mentioned previously. The expletives come at you so quick you cannot even hear half of them, and that may be a good thing, while the terms used and phrases uttered to characters are so inventively creative the screenwriter’s (Armstrong, Blackwell, and Iannucci) deserve any and every accolade possible. To pull off such dialogue and not alienate a viewer is a feat most difficult but in In The Loop, it works every step of the way. Throw in a great story full of laughs, debauchery, and making fun of the political system in more than one Country and you have a great screenplay.
Cinematography
Let’s get rough and dirty. Ok. The cinematographer, Jamie Cairney, took the more documentary approach for In The Loop. The camera moves awkwardly as it follows the characters. The framing is imperfect. There are an abundance of wides and medium shots and very few close-ups. The camera always feels like a bystander. A person in the room watching, waiting, and never giving an opinion on the matters at hand. You as the viewer become the camera and it is your eyes on the scene. Making In The Loop feel even more authentic in its depiction of the politics at hand.
Cast and Crew
- Director(s): Armando Iannucci
- Screenwriters: Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci
- Cast: Peter Capaldi (Malcolm Tucker), Tom Hollander (Simon Foster), Gina McKee (Judy), James Gandolfini (Lt. Gen. George Miller)
- Editor(s): Anthony Boys
- Cinematographer: Jamie Cairney
- Production Designer(s): Cristina Casali
- Costume Designer:
- Casting Director(s):
- Music Score:
- Music Performed By:
- Country Of Origin: UK
