In the Loop (2009). Photofest.
(Armando Iannucci, UK 2009, 106 min., DCP)
Based on director Armando Iannucci’s British television series The Thick of It and haunting the corridors of power and political spin in London, Washington, DC, and New York City, In the Loop follows nefarious Director of Communications Malcolm Tucker (Peter Capaldi) as he tries to clean up after ineffectual politicians and ambitious power brokers. When the UK’s minister of international development, Simon Foster (Tom Hollander), claims that war in the Middle East is “unforeseeable,” he draws the ire of Tucker and inadvertently sparks a political quagmire on two continents as both the US and UK governments work behind the scenes to come out on top. Vulgar, biting, and riotously hilarious, In the Loop features wonderful comedic performances and the type of satire we would come to expect from Iannucci in The Death of Stalin and Veep.