What a waste of my time!!!

Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

The UK and America are slowly moving towards war in the middle east. Simon Foster (Tom Hollander) is the bumbling Minister for International Development who frustrates the PM's Director of Communications Malcolm Tucker (Peter Capaldi). Toby Wright (Chris Addison) is Simon's young aide. US Assistant Secretary of State Karen Clarke (Mimi Kennedy) and her assistant Liza Weld (Anna Chlumsky) are trying to prevent war. Meanwhile Linton Barwick (David Rasche) from State is trying to push for war with his War Committee. US General George Miller (James Gandolfini) also opposes the war. Meanwhile, Simon is hounded back home by Paul Michaelson (Steve Coogan) angry at his wall.I love that VEEP flavor delivered by Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci and Tony Roche. I liked this movie before VEEP because of this style of political humor. It's subversive. It's light-hearted but with a vicious jab at the incompetence of it all. Honestly, I didn't pay attention to the connection until I watched this movie again. The flavor is undeniable and so delicious.

This film has some funny lines, but is effectively just one formula for a joke, repeated again and again (Angry swearing if you were wondering). Some really good acting, Capaldi and Gandolfini for starters but it really felt like there was no plot, was more a series of sketches of more or less the same, swearing jokes. I don't know why people find it great, yes its political satire and might be very satirically representative and accurately funny. That doesn't translate into a good film however.There is also a lot of cringe involved in this film, i would summarise it as a)cringe and b)angry swearing. When I mentioned this film to a friend he said "Is that the one where he swears a lot". I think you are starting to get the gist by now

In the Loop (2009): Dir: Armando Iannucci / Cast: Tom Hollander, Peter Capaldi, Chris Addison, James Gandolfini, Anna Chlumsky: One of the funniest films ever made about politics, and perhaps the best of its kind since Dr. Strangelove or Network. This is a brilliant satire about lack of communication, misunderstanding and total confusion in its media frenzy. The film regards a corrupt British government that becomes the subject of a war against the Middle East when the Secretary of State uses the word "unforeseeable." He is played with bumbling hilarity by Tom Hollander whose word gains him unwanted attention that he must spin webs around in order to maintain some sort of dignity. Peter Capaldi steals the entire film as the communications chief who uses profanity like a machine gun when doing damage control. He must turn this around before the tension escalates to fatal heights on both margins. James Gandolfini steals scenes as a U.S. General whose opinion of war is that it is stupid. He lays claim to some of the funniest lines with blunt cynical delivery. Chris Addison also stars as a sort of spin doctor who causes more damage but manages to sleep with a hot young intern. Anna Chlumsky also appears in her best work since her stint in the My Girl films. Director Armando Iannucci delivers a brilliant film about flawed political communication. Score: 9 / 10

If you like good political comedy then you should have become aware of the BBC TV series 'The Thick of It.' However, if this has escaped you then it's probably best to stop reading right now and go and watch it. The bottom line: if you like The Thick of It then you'll like In the Loop.It's basically the same animal, or a 'compendium piece' as I've heard it described. Whereas The Thick of It stayed in Britain, In the Loop also takes us to America where we see that U.S. politics is just as jaded and back-stabbing as its U.K. counterpart. The British Prime Minister and the American President fancy starting a war. The only problem is that there really isn't a good argument for starting one. Therefore, America enlists the help of Downing Street's legendary 'Enforcer' (or 'Director of Communications' to give him his correct title) Malcolm Tucker (perfectly played, as usual, by Peter Capaldi) to come up with some 'evidence' which supports the upcoming invasion.Sounds familiar? Well, it should. It's a case of art (sadly) imitating life as comparisons with George and Tony's handling of the invasion of Iraq are evident for all to see.It may not sound like an ideal source for comedy, but, handled well and you'll be cringing at one political mess after another. In fact, politics is probably better this way. At least these politicians are meant to be funny and entertaining. Their real life incarnations cause as many problems, but don't give us any good laughs along the way.The only thing you need to know (if you watched the TV series first) was that only Malcolm Tucker remains the same character. All the other regular faces from the TV show are there, but they play different characters (that confused me the first time I saw it, but eventually I got used to it!).