Armando Iannucci's brilliant political satire, 'The Thick Of It', takes obvious cues from real events (and personalities) in British politics; and cooks these ingredients into a splendidly toxic broth personified by the character of Maclolm Tucker, spin doctor extraordinaire, the man with the most inventive foulmouth on the planet. The other protagonists are slimy, incompetent, self-serving; but part of Iannucci's genius is that even as you hate them, you almost end up feeling sorry for them as well, doomed to play their part in the political machine. It's a brilliant programme; what's even more unusual is the success of its adaptation to the big screen. To make 'In the Loop', Iannucci has directly addressed one of the biggest recent political stories, the second Gulf War, which also allows him to introduce a range of American archetypes into his drama; as with his British characters, the mixture of exaggeration, subtlety and sheer venality in their portrayals is wonderfully judged. And although wholly fictional, as an account of how certain intelligence dossiers came to be faked, it's also wholly compelling and believable. Less surprisingly, many of the regular cast from the TV series also feature in the film, although (Peter Capaldi as Tucker aside) in slightly different roles. But there's no denying the basic quality of the humour here; the title of this review, incidentally, is one character's description of opera. A film which makes you laugh or think as much is rare; one which does both is something special indeed.
Review of In the Loop
