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In the Loop

 
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In the Loop

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  • Director: Armando Iannucci
  • AMG Rating: starstarstar
  • Genre: Comedy
  • Movie Type: Political Satire, Farce
  • Themes: Members of the Press, Heads of State
  • Main Cast: Peter Capaldi, James Gandolfini, Tom Hollander, David Rasche, Gina McKee
  • Release Year: 2008
  • Run Time: 102 minutes
  • MPAA Rating: NR

Plot

The run-up to war makes for curious rivalries and uneasy alliances in this political satire from director and co-screenwriter Armando Iannucci. Simon Foster (Tom Hollander) is a minor minister of international development with the British government who, in the midst of a radio interview, casually tells a reporter "war is unforeseeable." However, the prime minister is being pressured to commit British troops to support American forces in the Middle East, and communications director Malcolm Tucker (Peter Capaldi) goes into a tirade when the press turns Foster's passing comment into a major news story. Foster becomes an unwitting media figure, and he and his personal communications director, Judy (Gina McKee), are joined by political damage control expert Toby (Chris Addison) as they're sent to Washington, D.C., to meet with American political and military leaders. Despite Judy's and Toby's help, Foster displays a stubborn inability to say what he's supposed to, and he finds himself caught in the middle between pro-war factions -- including diplomat Karen Clarke (Mimi Kennedy) and State Department official Linton Barwick (David Rasche) -- and those who oppose the conflict, including Pentagon attaché General Miller (James Gandolfini) and activist Liza (Anna Chlumsky). As if matters weren't already complicated enough, Liza used to date Toby when they were college students, and Gen. Miller was once involved with Clarke, adding bitter romantic history to an already rocky playing field. In the Loop received its North American premiere at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Review

In the Loop is a fast-paced, lancet-witted ensemble comedy from first-time film director Armando Iannucci, based on his satirical BBC sitcom The Thick of It. The film tracks the lies, misunderstandings, bad intel, and PR blunders within in a few corridors of British and American power that escalate into a full-blown (fictional) crisis in the Middle East over the course of a few days, during a few conversations and meetings. Though played for laughs, the movie demonstrates how the most incidental factors (leaked papers, hastily spoken sound bites) and players (aides, interns, and low-level government officials) can influence the course of history.



The pitch-perfect cast does a great job with Iannucci's script, improvising just enough to maintain the pseudo-documentary feel of the TV show. Even when the action gets loose and rollicking, the tone is tightly controlled satire, and the humor emerges organically from the situations and relationships at hand. Peter Capaldi, reprising his TV role, is hilarious as a foul-mouthed, perpetually riled up director of communications for the British prime minister. Mimi Kennedy gives a droll but heartfelt performance as a pacifist U.S. diplomat who shares some touching and funny scenes with a relatively subdued James Gandolfini, playing a U.S. general with surprising views on war. And Tom Hollander quietly steals the show as the hapless British secretary of state for International Development whose careless remark in an interview sets off the events that catapult him into deeper waters than he has ever tread. ~ Paula Carino, All Movie Guide

Cast

Chris Addison - Toby; Anna Chlumsky - Liza Weld; Steve Coogan - Paul Michaelson; Mimi Kennedy - Karen Clarke; Harry Hadden-Paton - Civil Servant; Samantha Harrington - Malcolm's Secretary; Olivia Poulet - Suzy; James Smith - Michael Rodgers; Zach Woods - Chad; Enzo Cilenti - Bob Adriano; Lucinda Raikes - Reporter; James Doherty - Reporter; Reid Sasser - Airport Security Official; Johnny Pemberton - A.J.; Chipo Chung - Annabelle Hsin; Del Pentecost - White House Tourist; Joanna Scanlan - Roz; Joanna Brookes - Mrs. McDiarmid; Rita May - Mrs. Michaelson; Paul Higgins - Jamie MacDonald; Alex MacQueen - Sir Jonathan Tutt; Eve Matheson - New Minister; Will Smith - New Advisor

Credit

Nick Dent - Art Director, Meredith Tucker - Casting, Sarah Crowe - Casting, Ros Little - Costume Designer, Charlie Leech - First Assistant Director, Armando Iannucci - Director, Billy Sneddon - Editor, Ant Boys - Editor, David M. Thompson - Executive Producer, Paula Jalfon - Executive Producer, Christine Langan - Executive Producer, Simon Fawcett - Executive Producer, Marese Langan - Hair Styles, Kay Bilk - Hair Styles, Tom Howard - Location Manager, Rosa Romero - Line Producer, Adem Ilhan - Composer (Music Score), Marese Langan - Makeup, Kay Bilk - Makeup, Tamsin Dorling - Makeup, Isabelle Webley - Makeup, Cristina Casali - Production Designer, Jamie Cairney - Cinematographer, Dave Willis - Production Manager, Kevin Loader - Producer, Adam Tandy - Producer, Tony Roche - Screenwriter, Armando Iannucci - Screenwriter, Jesse Armstrong - Screenwriter, Simon Blackwell - Screenwriter, Louise Seymour - Post Production Supervisor, Nicola Mairs - Production Coordinator, Kurt Uebersax - Production Supervisor, Jon Jennings - Second Assistant Director, Nicola Dove - Still Photographer, Janine Marr - Costumes Supervisor, Clare Keyte - Set Decorator, Bob Newton - Production Sound Mixer, Annalise Laidlow - Third Assistant Director

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Wikipedia: In the Loop (film)
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In the Loop

Official UK poster, showing some of the main cast (left to right: James Gandolfini, Anna Chlumsky, Tom Hollander, Peter Capaldi and Steve Coogan).
Directed by Armando Iannucci
Produced by Adam Tandy
Kevin Loader
Written by Jesse Armstrong
Simon Blackwell
Armando Iannucci
Tony Roche
Ian Martin (additional material)
Starring Tom Hollander
James Gandolfini
Chris Addison
Peter Capaldi
Gina McKee
Steve Coogan
David Rasche
Cinematography Jamie Cairney
Editing by Ant Boys
Billy Sneddon
Distributed by BBC Films
Optimum Releasing
Protagonist Pictures
IFC Films
Release date(s) 22 January 2009 (Sundance)
12 February 2009 (GFF)
17 April 2009 (UK)
Running time 109 minutes
Country United Kingdom
Language English
Budget £612,650 (UK Film Council contribution)[1]

In the Loop is a feature film directed by Armando Iannucci. It is a spinoff from the BBC TV series The Thick of It satirising Anglo-American politics in the 21st century. The film was released on 17 April 2009 in the United Kingdom.[2]

In the film, the President of the United States and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom are looking to launch a war in the Middle East. The plot follows government officials and advisers in their behind-the-scenes efforts either to promote the war or prevent it.[3] It stars Tom Hollander, James Gandolfini, Chris Addison, Peter Capaldi, Anna Chlumsky, Gina McKee, Steve Coogan and David Rasche.[4] The film is a joint collaboration between BBC Films and the UK Film Council.[5]

A BBC press release stated that filming had commenced in May 2008.[4] As of December 2008, filming had concluded and a world premiere (at the Sundance Film Festival) was held on 22 January 2009.[6][7] The European gala premiere screening was held in the independent Glasgow Film Theatre as the opening of the 2009 Glasgow Film Festival on the 12th of February 2009, attended by Iannucci and members of the cast.[8]

Contents

Writing

The writing of In The Loop followed the methods developed during The Thick Of It television series. Co-writer Jesse Amstrong explained:[9]

“ It’s exactly the same format as used in The Thick Of It. Armando holds it together in the middle. Simon Blackwell, Tony Roche and I meet him then come up with the story line. Us three go away and do the storyline then send it to Armando to be okayed and do the initial drafts. Then Ian Martin does additional material and rewrites as well. So it’s a five-man team but all broken down into different compartments. It never feels unwieldy.

Once we had the storyline mapped out with Armando, each of us took an act each, if you think of it as a three-act movie. I had the first crack at the first act, Simon at the second and Tony at the third. We looked at them all, Armando gave us notes and we did another rewrite and passed them around. It’s not like one person does the plot, one does the jokes and one does the politics, but we all have our different strengths.

 ”

Noting that The Thick of It had been inspired by the Blair government's attacks on the BBC in the wake of the Iraq war, the magazine Cinema Scope described In The Loop as "The Thick of It’s “origin story,” a retelling of the chain of events that inspired Iannucci to devise the series."[10]

Production

Promotional poster for In the Loop parodying the Barack Obama Hope poster.[11]

The film was shot on location in London and Washington, D.C. During a set visit Time Out London noted the style of filming is highly similar to The Thick of It:

“ The similarities are everywhere, down to the docu-style, handheld camerawork evident on the monitors (it's the same director of photography) and the anti-West Wing production design that eliminates all notions of political glamour. ”

Iannucci himself mentioned progress on the film in several columns for The Observer newspaper.[13]

“ In the film I was finishing, we featured a motorcade. We had some police standing by to add authenticity. We started rolling, but could never get up a decent speed because of the traffic lights at each block. Then one of the police leant into the car and said: "D'you want me to turn my siren on? That'll let us through all the red lights." It worked and it was also quite exciting. ”

Iannucci has stated: "We don't go up to White House level, we deal mainly with state department underlings, the kind of people that actually make decisions with enormous political consequences."[14]

One scene was filmed at the DC nightclub Black Cat; the band shown performing is Cannabis Corpse.[15] The American political journalist and blogger Spencer Ackerman was one of the film's consultants.[16]

Cast

Several actors from The Thick of It appear in the film, including Peter Capaldi, Chris Addison, Paul Higgins and Alex MacQueen. [17][18]

The only actual returning characters are Malcolm Tucker and Jamie McDonald, with brief cameos by Angela Heaney, and Tucker's secretary Sam.[19] Other previous collaborators with Armando Iannucci include Gina McKee, Will Smith and Steve Coogan.

Plot

During an interview on BBC Radio 4's PM programme, Minister for International Development Simon Foster accidentally states that a proposed war in the Middle East is "unforeseeable". Although told off for not following "the line" by the Prime Minister's enforcer Malcolm Tucker, the statement coincides with a visit by high-up U.S. officials who jump upon the phrase and begin to use Simon, and his hapless new aide Toby, as pawns in an international game.[3]

Reception

Critical reception to the film's premiere at the Sundance Film Festival was positive.[20] Damon Wise, writing in The Times was particularly complimentary, giving the film five stars, stating "It's hard to settle on a standout element because it's all so outstanding, from the performances to the one-liners to the plot."[21] However, Screen International's David D'Arcy was complimentary, but noted that the release of the film may be poorly timed, given the new presidency of Barack Obama, stating "its exuberant, boundless cynicism will test the demand for political satire in an Obama-infatuated America."[22]

The American website Rotten Tomatoes reports that 95% of the reviews they tallied for the film were positive.[23]

The film was picked up by IFC Films for distribution in the US, and began screening on July 24th, 2009.[24]

References

  1. ^ UK Film Council awards database, URL accessed 11 March 2009
  2. ^ Official site, URL accessed 11 March 2009
  3. ^ a b Wolf, Ian. "In the Loop". British Comedy Guide. http://www.comedy.org.uk/guide/film/in_the_loop/. Retrieved 2009-03-07. 
  4. ^ a b BBC Press Office - Principal photography commences on Armando Iannucci's In the Loop, URL accessed 19 May 2008
  5. ^ "Peter Capaldi gets into The Thick Of it for Armando Iannucci movie" in The Times, May 6th, 2008
  6. ^ Armando's Loop gets Sundance premiere, on Chortle.co.uk, URL accessed 22 December 2008
  7. ^ In the Loop at the Sundance Film Festival website, 16 January 2009
  8. ^ http://www.glasgowfilmfestival.org.uk/programme/show/250
  9. ^ "Writing In the Loop" ClashMusic.com 27th October 2009
  10. ^ Cinema Scope, URL accessed 20 November 2009
  11. ^ Shoard, Catherine (2009-03-04). "Watch a world exclusive clip of Armando Iannucci's In the Loop. Warning: strong language". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/filmblog/2009/mar/04/clip-in-the-loop-armando-iannucci#. Retrieved 2009-03-11. 
  12. ^ "Set visit: 'In The Loop' with Armando Iannucci" Time Out London, Sunday 11 January 2009
  13. ^ Armando Iannucci "Step right up to Politicsville, USA", The Observer, Sunday 15 June 2008
  14. ^ Vanessa Thorpe, Star of British TV satire set to conquer America", The Observer, Sunday 11 January 2009
  15. ^ http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/Blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=118201
  16. ^ http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2009/jul/23/armando-iannucci-in-the-loop-washington
  17. ^ Jeremy Kay (2009-01-23). "Sundance 2009: In the Loop puts rest of the fest in the shade". The Guardian (Guardian Media Group). http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/filmblog/2009/jan/23/sundance-2009-in-the-loop. Retrieved 2009-01-28. 
  18. ^ Dave Calhoun. "Set visit: 'In The Loop' with Armando Iannucci". Time Out. http://www.timeout.com/film/features/show-feature/4903/set-visit-in-the-loop-with-armando-iannucci.html. Retrieved 2009-01-28. 
  19. ^ http://living.scotsman.com/features/Pul-Higgins-interview-Guiltedged-success.4674031.jp
  20. ^ Xan Brooks, "Iannucci's Iraq war satire lauded at Sundance" in The Guardian, Wedneday January 21 2009
  21. ^ Damon Wise "In the Loop at the Sundance Film Festival, Utah", The Times, Wednesday 21 January 2009
  22. ^ David D'Arcy "In The Loop", screendaily.com Tuesday 20 January 2009
  23. ^ In the Loop,rottentomatoes.com, accessed November 11, 2009.
  24. ^ In the Loop at the Internet Movie Database, URL accessed 25 January 2009

External links


This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

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