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In the Loop (2009) Certificate 15

In the Loop
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Rated 3.5 stars
Average rating
(71%)
 
Starring: Peter Capaldi | Tom Hollander | Gina McKee | James Gandolfini | Mimi Kennedy | Anna Chlumsky | Zach Woods | Chris Addison | Steve Coogan | David Rasche
Director: Armando Iannucci
Studio: OPTIMUM HOME ENTERTAINMENT
Run time: 106 mins
Collections: 100 Most Wanted
Genres: Comedy
Languages: English
Released: August 24, 2009

IN THE LOOP is a foul-mouthed comedy that draws on non-specific events to create a world that is terrifyingly familiar: The US President and UK Prime Minister fancy a war, but not everyone agrees that war is a ‘good thing’. US General Miller (James Gandolfini – The Sopranos, The Taking Of Pelham 123) certainly doesn't think so and neither does the British Secretary of State for International Development, Simon Foster (Tom Hollander – Pirates of the Caribbean, Pride and Prejudice). But when the mild-mannered minister inadvertently appears to back the war on prime-time television, he immediately attracts the attention of the PM’s venomously aggressive communications chief Malcolm Tucker (reprised from The Thick of It by Peter Capaldi), who latches onto him like a hawk. Soon, the Brits are in Washington, where diplomatic relations collide with trans-Atlantic spin doctors and Foster’s off-hand remark quickly spirals into an insurmountable ‘mountain of conflict’.

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Rating of 5 stars out of 5
Time Out

Cover your eyes: is this another well-loved sitcom dying an embarrassing death on the big screen? Far from it ...

Highest rated reviews

91 out of 92 people found the following review helpful:

Rated 4.0 stars
Very funny political satire

mgreatrex from , 8th April, 2009

If you are a fan of political comedy, you will really enjoy this film and I must confess to not having seen the TV series it is spun off from, The Thick of It. This film has a good cast which demonstrates the political complexities and how a few miss timed words can hilariously de-rail the opposition to proposals. The plot could be conceived to be dangerously close to real life political events, which makes the way the arrive at the outcome truely scary! The No.10 character does use some offensive language, but it will always make you laugh - especially when used on the Americans! Brilliantly thrown into the mix are constituency matters which all MPs have -with Steve Coogan at his best - and I felt it was a cocktail for a very good film. Enjoy!

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44 out of 47 people found the following review helpful:

Rated 0.0 stars
Entertainment for the pretentious...

ThorOdinsson from , 26th August, 2009

If you're a 'modern' person who works in government, or a kind of 'Jeremy Paxman' type git, this is for you. Quick fire political shenanigans with four hundred swear words a minute. Actually, it's just crap.

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35 out of 38 people found the following review helpful:

Rated 0.0 stars
Boring

A Customer from Sutton in Ashfield, 27th August, 2009

Got bored, switched it off, don't bother unless you into politics!

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24 out of 25 people found the following review helpful:

Rated 2.0 stars
poor

mick1963 from , 29th August, 2009

Was expecting a comedy but didn't make me laugh once in the 45 mins I endured.Just putting the 'f' word into every sentence dosn't make it funny.

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Most recent reviews

Rated 1.0 stars
Nasty, British and short.

SuzannePolish from , 20th March, 2010

Tom Hollander's hapless Minister for Overseas Development, Simon Foster, is British and short. And he is surrounded by many others, some British, some Amercian, who are in the main, extremely nasty. Peter Capaldi's Malcolm Tucker, and his possibly even more evil spin-doctor sidekick - also Scottish, and frankly I can't be arsed to find out who this actor is - are cases in point. Filled with four letter words, and possibly even shoutier than Radio Four's political satire 'The Now Show', the most uplifting performances in this dreary swear-fest come from James Gandolfini as the American general having doubts about a further commitment to war, and Mimi Kennedy, as Karen Clarke. Her mouth stuffed with tissues, saying 'But I'm not a monster' is the one, true comedic moment. The rest is terminally dull: sadly and probably, all too true of the cogwheels of the British and American political machinery. Boorish, brutish, and alas, not likely to end any time soon.

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Rated 5.0 stars
Very very VERY funny!

Bazzaboy from , 19th March, 2010

I lost count of the amount of times I almost wet myself laughing at this. As a fan of the Thick of It, I was worried the big screen version would lose some of its magic - far from it! Peter Capaldi is outstanding as Malcolm Tucker, he makes swearing sound almost poetic!

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Rated 5.0 stars
Very underated

A Customer from Reading, England, 17th March, 2010

SHE'S GOT A WATERING CAN!!!!!! That is all...

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Rated 2.0 stars
Doesn't suit feature-length

Nicgiggs from , 15th March, 2010

I'm a fan of the BBC series but didn't really think it worked on the big screen. What's funny in a half hour sitcom isn't always funny in a full length film and this certainly didn't work for me. The story idea was too obvious, characters I previously loved began to really annoy me and it felt like the same joke over and over. I'd rather watch Borat thanks.

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