IN THE LOOP (2009)

As I write we have an inquiry into the Iraq War taking place. Scrap it I say and just watch this film - it's probably the closest we are going to get to the truth. For followers of the television series THE THICK OF IT the character of press secretary Malcolm Tucker (played with frightening conviction by Peter Capaldi) is the real centre of this film. Oddly, and I certainly found it disconcerting, virtually the entire cast of the television show are in the movie but playing different people, albeit their characters are the same. There seems to be little reason for this given the rapid reshuffle culture of goverment and civil service circles. Tucker is the Prime Minister's rottweiller (as in the tv show the Prime Minister is never seen - likewise the US President) taking on the his American opposites in Washington and at the UN, trying to come up with intelligence that will give the excuse to invade an unnamed country when no such intelligence exists while at the same time dealing with a totally incompetent British minister who is systematically ignored by his American counterparts. To pick out funny scenes is pointless really as there are no unfanny ones but I loved Tucker's visit to The White House and his encounter with a presidential aide who appears to be about 13 yrs old. Directed by Armando Ianucci, featuring the cast of THE THICK OF IT, James Gandolfini and David Rasche. I'm still laughing. Rating ****