In The Loop Review

Posted by Erik Luers on 08.12.2009

It's all in a day's work......

Peter Capaldi ... Malcolm Tucker
Tom Hollander ... Simon Foster
Gina McKee ... Judy
James Gandolfini ... Lt. Gen. George Miller
Chris Addison ... Toby Wright
Anna Chlumsky ... Liza Weld
Paul Higgins ... Jamie MacDonald
Mimi Kennedy ... Karen Clarke







Armando Iannucci's In The Loop is what many would label a biting satire. It mocks a little, criticizes a little, points fingers a little, in essence, it's a little movie. What it does, it does well though, and that is good enough. This is a comedic film played to the highest laugh degree by a team of game and generous actors. No one is trying to be the star or outshine the others, and you can feel a palpable sense of camaraderie among the thespians that gives the scenes, in all their four letter foul mouthed glory, a sense of viewer participation. You almost want to jump in and start an improvisational exercise to take the fun further, but no, their work does more than enough. There's not a bad performance in this film, and isn't that a pretty rare, lightning in the bottle occurrence? Okay, Moon had an amazing ensemble as well but.....if you've seen that movie, you already get the joke.

The actors here are so good that they almost disguise the fact that the material they're working with is not always up to par — a series of glorified sketches, the film's narrative isn't as sharp and well focused as it could be. In the end, the film doesn't add up to much because the deck is stacked and no one is willing to pull any of the cards. Iannucci lets In The Loop sort of glide on its comedy aura, and that works fine for a while, but then something strange happened: I grew tired of it. That's not to say you won't have a good time (I did), but I could see the film aiming for something more, just out of reach, a reason for being.

Essentially a British Burn After Reading, In The Loop follows a gaggle of idiots that are forced with a problem they do not know how to solve nor even address. Power falls into their laps (or so they believe), and they think of themselves as leaders with a solution to an important problem. Now, how many political bigwigs does this remind you of? In this case, the problem is an impending war. Everyone has their own stance on what precautions should be taken, who should be dictating to whom, etc. No one really, however, knows everything (or at the risky of sounding overtly witty, no one knows anything).

Sure, they act like they do, with one constantly angry, cussing, low on the totem pole cretin trying to prove to the world that he knows all, but they're in over their head, and that's where the comedy lays. The interns want more power, the army generals want to voice their opinions, and so on. The story is hectic and all over the map, but it's probably supposed to be. I suspect this is how government officials really act. Is that funny or sad? Funny in the moment, sad in retrospect, I think. I one day expect someone to proclaim "knock knock jokes are funny but politics are comic gold." Well Erik, I guess you just did.

The film is shot in a contemporary, shaky cam way, a style which has become increasingly popular with mockumentary television shows like The Office and Parks and Recreation. Some may find that a little annoying, but it's not overdone or distracting. The quick edits amp up the comedic rhythm, so this impromptu on the go style rewards the film's pacing in unexpected ways. Take one scene that occurs at a suburban house party for example. James Gandolfini's character, Lt. Gen. George Miller, goes upstairs with an important political advisor (actress Mimi Kennedy) to talk privately about this war that may or may not happen. Where do they go to keep quiet? The bedroom of a very young girl, of course, filled with pink/purple walls and toys sprawled all over the floor and bed. Forget the war problem, they must first focus on finding a place to sit!

The camera shows all of this, and Iannucci appeals to be reveling in its heightened awkwardness. The more bizarre the situation, the better. The actors in this scene are also very funny but subtle; they trust their lines of dialogue and play the material rather straight. To paraphrase one funny line from this back and forth, "normally we have to have a few soldiers come back alive to prove that we've won." True, poignant, and very smart, this is good comedy.

There are a lot of good scenes like this that hit their mark and move on, so on the basis of that alone, I would not like to discourage anyone from seeing this movie. You will laugh alot (The Shining reference prevented me from breathing for a few seconds), and you will probably have a good time. It's only in retrospect that you may realize that the movie feels weightless, almost unimportant. It could be a great sitcom, with weekly episodes and a hilarious multitude of supporting characters. As a film, however, it feels like an idea, not a fully thought out story.

I realize that most moviegoers think about films in the moment, and then determine whether or not they liked it based upon that initial viewing. What happens if you start to think about a film a little more afterwards? Does it hold up? One of my feelings was that, while I would like to show some people several scenes from the film, I wouldn't necessarily urge them to see the whole thing. This film defines the term "sporadic". There's a budding romance tangent which involves former child star Anna Chlumsky, but it feels clumsily tacked on and thrown together. It's not a plot but a plot point. When, in one scene, the two "lovers" go to a nearby bar/club, it seems too thrown together to successfully pull the viewer in; I couldn't wait to get back to the grownups.

I find myself having trouble describing much more about In The Loop. It's a film that happens to you in the moment, and maybe you'll appreciate it more so than. Comedies tend to be very much like that. The jabs, insults, and putdowns sting and are simultaneously hilarious, as Iannucci's script (he is credited as a co-writer here) balances out the truth with the satire. As great as many of the jokes are however, you may hope to find something greater, something more lasting. It's a minimal comedy that mostly works for its one hundred plus minutes runtime, give or take two or three scenes that run out of steam and drag. Oh well. Just like America, we can't all be perfect. In The Loop may just be your fit.

The 411: In The Loop is a perfect example of the parts being greater than the whole. Filled with excellent performances and some good writing, the film suffers somewhat from bad pacing and the lack of a point. When the film came to a close, it felt like everyone agreed that that was the perfect way to end the film, without anyone really knowing why. It loses focus and drifts off course too often. Still, this a very funny film that can be enjoyed for its actors and their remarkable comedic timing. In The Loop isn't perfect, but it's got its heart in the right place.

Final Score:  7.0   [ Good ]