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Title: In The Loop
Year: 2009
Country: UK
Language: English
Genre: Comedy
Director: Armando Iannucci
Writers: Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche
Cast:
Tom Hollander
Peter Capaldi
Mimi Kennedy
Chris Addison
Gina McKee
Anna Chlumsky
James Gandolfini
Olivia Poulet
Zach Woods
Enzo Cilenti
Paul Higgins
Michael Rodgers
David Rasche
Johnny Pemberton
Steve Coogan
James Smith
Alex MacQueen
Joanna Scanlan
Rating: 7/10

If you haven’t watched this film yet, one sincere advice, take a deep breathe and prepare yourself for some explicitly nasty English verbal assault, as I watched it in Chinese subtitle, I intended to change the subtitle into English so I could take a good lesson, but finally I gave up the idea, which would surely do no good to me.

Politics films generally is not my cup of tea, I would rather choose a horror flick over it, however I do not want to be too captious as I take films very serious, also the sad fact is that politics are pervading everywhere, so at least I should sample some excellent ones among them, for example, this one.

It’s a quite rare political satire, full of witted remarks, the script should no doubt be listed first with bold and italic in its record of merits, even the offensive ones are entertainingly metaphorical, I am not surprised that it got an Oscar nomination of original script this year.

Interestingly this film enhances a strong anti-politics penchant towards viewers, it does empower me with more antipathy against politicians. War and wall, there is no differences of how to handle with them, the bitter truth is that no creatures with higher morality available on the earth could substitute human beings to take on the roles as politicians, also it is potential that the situation could be much worse than status quo.

The ensemble cast is strong, Tom Hollander is lovely and stupid at the same time as the ill-fated UK minister, Mimi Kennedy resembles a vivid Diane Keaton look, Gina McKee is low-key but impressive, younger ones (Anna Chlumsky, Chris Addison, Zach Woods) demonstrate preciously one true saying, politics is not for young people. Obviously the most prominent character is Peter Capaldi’s foul-mouthed Malcolm Tucker (I don’t remember his title), an unforgettable performance which I think will stereotype him in the future (with “feces” flying all over I could literally smell his bad breath), the highlight is his conversation with James Gandolfini near the end of the film (I cannot hardly say it is a conversation though).

I think this is a political comedy suitable for all cinephiles, regardless of one’s taste of politics, it really intrigues me to watch Kubrick’s Doctor Strange, another reputable political satire.

One of the many perks of having an IFC membership (and being a nerd) is that you get to see movies before they hit theaters. So last night i got to take a sneak peak at the political comedy; ”In the Loop”, which opens at the IFC Center this weekend. It’s too bad this movie wasn’t released earlier, because it would’ve definitely made the “Top 5″ in my mid-season movie review.
After making a series of stupid comments to different journalists, the British Secretary of State; Simon Foster is perceived to be backing the idea of a war, which many people believe is just around the corner. The only problem is, Simon doesn’t actually want to back a war. So now, with the help of his new young political Aid; Toby, Simon has to dig himself out of a ditch, and stop a potential war. Unfortunately, every time he opens his mouth, he just digs himself further and further. The relationship on film between the UK and US hits very close to home (i.e. Tony Blair and George Bush), which makes the story relevant to all demographics, and not just UK audiences. The amazingly graphic dialogue alone, delivered mostly by the scene stealing character; “Malcolm Tucker” (assistant to the Prime Minister), should be enough to make anyone wanna see this. In fact, trying to quote some of the lines wouldn’t do this movie justice…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOYsN7G8p0E

“In The Loop” is probably the best comedy of the year so far (YES, it’s funnier than “The Hangover”). It channels everything from the pseudo documentary style of the T.V. show its based off of (”The Thick of It”) as well as “The Office” (both UK and US versions). It even has the spirit of vintage Robert Altman & Christopher Guest movies. I gotta be honest; I’d like to see more writing like this in American comedies, and less Apatow/Kevin Smith-influenced writing, which in my opinion has overstayed its welcome. So yeah, Seth Rogan and Jonah Hill aren’t in the movie, but hopefully the familiar face of co-star; James “Tony Soprano” Gandolfini will make American audiences take note, and check this movie out.

Tentu akan ada banyak sisi yang dapat Anda ambil ketika Anda sedang berbicara masalah konflik yang ada di dunia. Perang Irak, contohnya. Akan ada berbagai sisi yang dapat digali dari sebuah perang Irak daripada hanya menggambarkannya melalui suasana di tengah medan perang. The Hurt Locker terbukti berhasil membuat sisi pandang yang lain, yang lebih personal terhadap subjek tersebut.

In The Loop adalah satu film yang mencoba untuk menggambarkan bagaimana perang Irak tersebut dapat terjadi… melalui cara komedi. Tentu saja, apa yang diceritakan dalam film ini merupakan sebuah karya fiksi belaka. Namun, cara penggambaran a la black comedy di film ini tetap saja akan mampu menyindir dan menyentil beberapa pihak yang memang digambarkan terlibat dalam proses perwujudan Perang Irak itu sendiri.

In The Loop sendiri merupakan suatu adaptasi bebas dari serial komedi bernuansa politik asal Inggris, The Thick Of It. Baik serial maupun film ini sama-sama disutradarai oleh Armando Ianucci, dengan beberapa jajaran pemerannya juga turut serta membintangi film ini.

Film ini mengisahkan Presiden Amerika Serikat dan Perdana Menteri Inggris digambarkan sedang mencari alasan untuk memulai perang di Timur Tengah. Tentu saja, hal ini menimbulkan pro dan kontra diantara para staf pemerintahan masing-masing.

Menteri Pembangunan Internasional, Simon Foster (Tom Hollander), secara tidak sengaja mengucapkan statemen bahwa perang dalam beberapa waktu yang dekat adalah suatu yang “tidak dapat dilihat (unforeseeable)”. Ternyata sepotong kata “unforeseeable” ini menjadi sebuah kata yang membuat jajaran pemerintahan lainnya, termasuk Perdana Menteri, menjadi sedikit gerah. Sang Perdana Menteri, melalui pembantunya yang bersifat egois dan keras kepala, Malcolm Tucker (Peter Capaldi), mendatangi Foster dan menganjurkannya untuk lebih berhati-hati dalam mengeluarkan statemen.

Di lain pihak, statemen Foster sendiri sampai di telinga Asisten Sekretaris Negara Amerika Serikat bidang Diplomasi, Karen Clarke (Mimi Kennedy), yang bersama seorang anggota militer, Letnan Jenderal Miller (James Galdolfini), berencana “menggunakan” Foster untuk sebuah permainan yang telah disusun oleh Pemerintahan Amerika Serikat.

Terdengar rumit? Bagi mereka yang tidak menggemari berbagai hal mengenai politik, tentu saja akan menganggap In The Loop sebagai sesuatu yang sedikit membosankan. Beberapa bagian film ini, khususnya yang berbicara mengenai hubungan diplomasi antara dua negara, yang dilengkapi dengan berbagai istilah-istilah ketatanegaraan, mungkin akan membuat sebagian penontonnya merasa “kaget” dan kemudian tidak mampu untuk mengikuti film ini.

In The Loop sebenarnya dibentuk sebagai sebuah mocking bagi kedua belah negara, baik Amerika Serikat dan Inggris, bagaimana digambarkan para pejabat dari kedua belah negara diisi oleh orang-orang yang sebenarnya tidak tahu menahu mengenai penyebab mengenai perang tersebut berlangsung. Di pihak masing-masing pejabat kedua negara sendiri digambarkan terjadi perpecahan dimana sebagian pihak ingin agar perang tidak dilaksanakan, sementara pihak yang lain terus mendorong agar perang tersebut dilakukan (bahkan dengan alasan yang tidak masuk akal dan dibuat-buat).

Para aktor di film ini berhasil secara komikal memberikan esensi komedi dari karakter yang mereka perankan. Dipenuhi dengan berbagai slang kasar asal Inggris, bagian paling sempurna film ini berada di menit-menit awal film, dimana Ianucci berhasil memparodikan berbagai kebijakan-kebijakan negara dengan cara satir yang luar biasa lucu. Bukan berarti bahwa seterusnya film ini akan gagal memberikan tawa, namun memang bagian terbaik dan paling lucu dari In The Loop ada di bagian awal.

Minim aktor yang familiar (kecuali James Gandolfini dari The Sopranos, Tom Hollander dari Pride & Prejudice dan jika Anda beruntung, Anda dapat mengenali Anna Chlumsky, sang gadis yang berpasangan dengan Macaulay Culkin di film My Girl disini), cerita yang luar biasa politis dan komedi a la Inggris (yang mungkin tidak akan dapat dimengerti semua orang), mungkin akan menjadikan In The Loop sebagai sebuah komedi yang memiliki segmentasi penonton tersendiri. Namun satu hal yang tidak dapat disangkal, In The Loop telah berhasil membuat salah satu naskah paling pintar disepanjang tahun lalu, yang tak hanya lucu namun mampu dengan sukses “menampar” para pejabat-pejabat yang hobi berperang tersebut. Bravo!

Rating: 4 / 5

Don’t even know where to start on this one. So many great one liners from a script so meaty every actor seems to be chewing from some species of cannibalistic buffet. What devastation the movie leaves you with- it feels like it needs to laugh at all times to out of sheer survivalist energy. The malicious machinery of this political world would eat us whole if it wanted to. Since ‘Dr. Strangelove’ have I not felt so pained and confused for laughing at the clusterfuck of opportunistic evil. On a side note, possibly the most thrilling and entertaining one to make, the profanities in this movie are as addicting and unbelievable as your first crack at a fine bottle of aged whiskey. Check this out!

Featuring some of the most artfully crafted profanities since the advent of the English language, In the Loop is political satire at its most sublimely vitriolic.

It’s a film which recognizes that swearing is never funnier than when delivered by an angry Scotsman, and Peter Capaldi’s Malcolm Tucker is about as angry and Scottish as they come. As Communications Director for the British Government, Tucker is tasked with salvaging the PR crisis created when a hapless Cabinet Minister speaks out of turn regarding a mooted US-UK military intervention in the Middle East. The ensuing farce is more uproarious than a verité glimpse at corridors of power in Washington and London has any right to be.

Imagine a ménage à trois between The Colbert Report, The Office, and The Aristocrats, and you’ll have an idea of what In the Loop is all about. In fact, In the Loop is a direct spinoff of a BBC television series, but Dr. Strangelove is probably a more familiar cinematic analogue. Fortunately, In the Loop is by no means flattered by the comparison, such is the sharpness of its writing. Indeed, Dr. Strangelove seems positively tame next to In the Loop’s hilarious torrents of vulgarity – bilious invective that would have shocked and awed Strangelove-era censors half to death.

But the true icing on this sinfully-sweary cake? Why, it’s the fact that all the cussing is actually in service of an intelligent and timely piece of social commentary, meaning you needn’t even feel guilty that In the Loop is such a pleasure.

In The Loop is the most enjoyable political farce since the comparable Dr. Strangelove. Driven by irreverent, stealthy dialogue, the film is a landmark in the cinema of all-too-true events turned to painful hilarity. At such a fast clip, the accents tend to garble, and not being the most politically-minded individual, the plot got away from me once or twice. That is to say, my what’s-going-on expression was only a brief contortion from my gleeful head-shaking. It’s a humbling piece of writing with some fierce performances, but is otherwise unmemorable.

Great film, technically speaking: the acting is stellar, top-notch, direction is solid, script is splendid, etc.

In this film, the swearing are aplenty, as if any moment the Von Trier’s animated fox will appear and drop the now one-liner classic: Chaos Reigns!

But at the end of the day this is after all a film that mirrors what our society has turned into – palpably vain, hypocritical and greedy – all at the cost of waging a useless war.

So what then is our hope that chaos will turn into serenity? The film doesn’t seem ready to give an answer; or perhaps it is busy tossing the idea whether this film can stop leaders from going out for a battle. I hope the answer is hopeful.

There is something about British comedy that resonates with me. I don’t know if it is because we in the States experience so little of it, or maybe because Hollywood rapes and pillages the material for their own water-downed versions, but the humor just seems fresh, uncensored, and hilarious. When I first came across the new political black comedy In the Loop, I will admit to being less than interested. The marketing materials were using the whole Obama silkscreen poster look and I really wasn’t interested in a movie about how the US and Britain decided to go into the Middle East. But then the buzz started. The realization that the film was shot with a penchant for improv, a desire to entertain rather than teach, and a cast of characters looking as though they are in a Christopher Guest movie, soon turned that preconception around. This is a fantastic film that never lets up on the laughs or one-liners. I just hope people go into it knowing that this isn’t how it actually happened … but then who knows? Sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction.

The back and forth dialogue is so quick that I couldn’t believe my eyes when I read a quote from the director about it all being about 80-85% scripted. He says that he gave the actors leeway to break course and even do takes without scripts at all, but when culling everything together, most of what stuck actually maintained the verbiage laid out by its five screenwriters. Each of these men, including director Armando Iannucci, has been working with British television and all have collaborated on the show “The Thick of It”. I will say now, if I get a chance to check it out, I most certainly will. Political satire is not necessarily my favorite thing in the world—I’ll watch the odd “Daily Show” episode—but after viewing this laugh-riot, checking out a spoof on the British political system, of which I know very little, could be a ton of fun. Heck, just the inclusion of Peter Capaldi will get me to stop surfing when I reach the BBC. This guy steals the show without question.

Capaldi plays Malcolm Turner, a Brit on the frontline of politics as an aide to the Prime Minister, spinning everything and anything to save face. With no time to spare on his running across the Atlantic to put out fires wherever his compatriots start them, you will have to forgive his abrasive, sarcastic, and just plain mean demeanor. The idea of war is being bandied about on talk shows, behind closed-door governmental meetings, and all over the media machine, and it is up to him to keep a lid on it by walking the party line, neither stating a fight is inevitable or unforeseeable—two terms that the buffoon who is British Secretary of State for International Development Simon Foster, played beautifully by the ever capable Tom Hollander, loves to utter. Foster just has to open his mouth to cause a stir felt around the world, and each time, of course, Malcolm Turner is there to chastise and humiliate his stupidity.

The film ultimately revolves around the journey Hollander’s Foster takes in trying to enhance exposure for himself. Partaking in talk shows or talking out of turn when enlisted to just be “room meat”, some of the Americans begin to see him as someone abroad that shares their sentiment that war is a bad idea. While David Rasche’s Linton Barwick—a hardcore proponent of battle, even using a live grenade as a paperweight—forms secret committees to discuss strategies for war, Mimi Kennedy’s Karen Clarke and James Gandolfini’s Lt. General George Miller are looking for ways to get into that meeting and shut it down. As a result, those two dissenters try to get Foster at every event to awkwardly express his stance of war being unforeseeable, hoping to deter any people on the fence that may be in attendance. So, Malcolm must run back and forth through England and DC spinning things his way and lambasting anyone that gets in his line of fire. Either Foster is too oblivious to care about the verbal assaults thrown his way or he just feels he can blame his Director of Communications Judy, who he makes stay at home while he globe-trots with his new young advisor Toby, (Gina McKee and Chris Addison respectively). Toby and Foster are so similar in their awe of America and lack of experience that their adventures make for good cinema, taking camera phone pics out their limo and speaking about getting hookers for the ride.

With a gigantic cast, I need to mention Anna Chlumsky as Clarke’s lackey who wrote a paper on how bad the war would be; Zach Woods as the creepy lurker/brown-nose reminding her about it and trying to work with any politician that will take him; Paul Higgins’ crass and vulgar Jamie MacDonald who makes Capaldi’s Turner look like a saint; and of course Brit legend Steve Coogan back at home dealing with his own war against Foster himself, trying to get a wall fixed before it falls on his mother while she gardens. “Can’t she use a hose and stand back?” “She has a watering can!!” It really is good stuff whether you enjoy the satire connecting it all or not. Just the sheer language and wit will keep a smile on your face no matter what precipitated the argument. No one likes each other, everyone has their own agenda, and blame is passed off as each second passes. Maybe there is more truth to this thing than one would think after all.

In the Loop is expertly acted and, for the most part, I have to credit that to the intelligent script being utilized. Whether the actors are improvising or not, the original text they are sticking to or springboarding from needed to be strong. By using all the jokes and imbecilic actions we associate with politicians, the writers have crafted a plausible, if not entirely idiotic, account of the days leading up to our countries’ joint invasion. Documents are leaked, words are twisted, and supposed partners are stabbed in the back. But through it all we have Capaldi doing his best to keep Britain’s stance as noncommittal as possible. And, truthfully, the way in which he does it makes for what has to be the funniest role of the year. Every word out of his mouth is acerbic and full of double meaning. With the f-word spewing at will and demeaning name-callings going left and right, make sure your head is clear if British speech sometimes troubles you in the comprehension realm. Understanding his words definitely pays off, keeping what would otherwise be a slightly bloated and meandering plot grounded in comedic excellence.