Sharp satire ‘In The Loop’ crammed with laughs

Cert 15

101 mins

Comedy/Drama

Director Armando Iannucci reunites with the writing team from his award-winning BBC Four series ‘The Thick Of It’, cramming more belly laughs into the first 20 minutes of this satire than most comedies manage in two hours.

Government communications chief Malcolm Tucker (Peter Capaldi) is hurriedly called into action after the British Secretary of State for International Development, Simon Foster (Tom Hollander), claims that a US and British-backed war in the Middle East is “unforeseeable”.

At the insistence of the Prime Minister, Foster heads for Washington accompanied by new aide Toby (Chris Addison), while Director of Communications Judy (Gina McKee) papers the cracks back home.

Foster becomes embroiled in a tug of war between pro and anti-war factions, the latter spearheaded by US Assistant Secretary for Diplomacy Karen Clarke (Mimi Kennedy) and US General Miller (James Gandolfini).

While Tucker tries to prevent his man in a suit saying another word and embarrassing the British government any further, Toby woos Karen Clarke’s ambitious intern, Liza (Anna Chlumsky).

DVD Extras: Director and actors commentary, deleted scenes, audio descriptive track, director and actors interviews, webisodes, theatrical trailer.

Star Rating: 5/5.