by Daniel Johnson

Created on: September 12, 2009

Picking up apt comparisons to such might satiric war-houses as DR. STRANGELOVE , CATCH 22, NETWORK, WAG THE DOG, etc. and geared aesthetically as an "anti-West Wing", Armando Iannucci's directorial debut posits people in power treading water in a sea of political spin and strangled discourse. It all comes from a misspoken statement by the aloof British Secretary of State for International Development played by Tom Hollander. Off the cuff, he says that a proposed war in the Middle East is "unforeseeable" on a radio talk show and that causes what one staffer calls "a catastro-(expletive deleted)". Another of his embarrassing on-air gaffs is also well riffed upon by his co-workers and the media elite: "Climbing the mountain of conflict"? You sounded like a Nazi Julie Andrews! "

Already strained relations between UK and US officials come to a boil. Hollander finds himself getting in deeper as obscenities fly at a ferocious rate from the Prime Minister's press secretary an outrageously profane Peter Capaldi (reprising his role from Iannucci's TV series The Thick Of It), misdirections come from diplomat handlers (Chris Addison and Gina McKee), and then there are the astute observations of James Gandofini (The Sopranos) as a gruff general who when attempting to strategize finds himself musing: "At the end of a war you need some soldiers left, really, or else it looks like you've lost."

A sampling of Capaldi's crude tactical pontification:

"Within your 'purview'? Where do you think you are, some *-ing regency costume drama? This is a government department, not some *-ing Jane f*ing Austen novel! Allow me to pop a jaunty little bonnet on your purview and ram it up your (again! Expletive deleted!)"

The large intertwined ensemble cast also includes Chris Addison (also from The Thick Of It), Steve Coogan, David Rasche, and an all grown up Anna Chlumsky (MY GIRL). With literally over a hundred great lines (most of them coming from the foul mouth of Capaldi) and a wickedly wry tone, IN THE LOOP has enough laughs for several big league movie comedies. It's a window into the tangled tortured world of policy makers and those who toil in the trenches beneath them. They're all caught in a massive web of manipulation woven from competing self-serving ambitions and it's all rooted in cold sad reality. Such pungent political satire doesn't come around often so this is definitely one to look out for.

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