FemaleFirst.co.uk: DVD: In The Loop [DVD] [2009]

In The Loop [DVD] [2009]
enlarge	Director: Armando Iannucci Actors: Anna Chlumsky, Steve Coogan, Tom Hollander, James Gandolfini, Peter Capaldi Studio: Optimum Home Entertainment Category: DVD List Price: ~~£17.99~~ Buy New: £4.99 as of 22/11/2009 01:48 GMT details You Save: £13.00 (72%) New (16) Used (3) from £4.99 Seller: cavalcade-of-dvds Rating: 39 reviews Sales Rank: 80 Format: PAL Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over Region: 2 Number Of Discs: 1 Running Time: 102 Minutes Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2 Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.4 x 0.6 EAN: 5055201807588 ASIN: B002AQQVDC Theatrical Release Date: 2009 Release Date: August 24, 2009 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days


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Editorial Reviews: Amazon.co.uk Review One of the finest British comedies of the decade, IIn The Loop/I takes the genius of the small screen hit IThe Thick Of It/I, and fleshes it out into a blisteringly funny feature-length movie. p Written and directed by Armando Ianucci, the film basically follows a plan between the American President and the British Prime Minister to begin a war, and spin it to their advantage. Naturally, not everyone is so keen on the plan, and the problems arise when Simon Foster, the Minister for International Development, declares that a war isnrsquo;t foreseeable, a statement that soon gets seized upon. Then IIn The Loop/I deploys its not-so-secret weapon, as enter stage left comes the tour-de-force that is spin doctor Malcolm Tucker. p The character of Tucker will be familiar to fans of IThe Thick Of It/I, and here, hersquo;s the absolute high point of a film packed with great moments. Foul-mouthed, vitriolic and a majestic comedy creation, much has been written in the past about Tuckerrsquo;s similarities with Alastair Campbell. The parallels are startling, but itrsquo;s in Peter Capaldirsquo;s outstanding portrayal of him that Tucker becomes the force of nature he is here. p Bolstered by an intelligent and incisive script, IIn The Loop/I is both an outstanding comedy and a first-rate satire, that only loses its momentum slightly in its final act. Yet by that stage, itrsquo;s more than justified both your expense and your time, and itrsquo;s virtually guaranteed to stay resident on many peoplersquo;s rewatch pile too. One of the finest films of 2009. --IJon Foster/I

Customer Reviews: Showing reviews 1-5 of 39 1 2 3 4 5 6 ...8 Next » The best comedy I've seen in years! June 4, 2009 J. S. Foster (UK) 47 out of 49 found this review helpful I came to check when the DVD of In the Loop would come out and was appalled to find 1 review, giving it 1 star. br / br /This is undoubtedly the best film I have seen all year, and the best comedy I can remember seeing for many years. The entire Cinema was in hysterics for all 102 minutes of this film. It basically resembles The Thick of It, but with a much grander scale of chaos. Once again Peter Capaldi steals every scene he's in, with the most impressive foul language I have ever heard. I was interested to see how Tom Hollander would do as a replacement for Chris Langham, and I was not disappointed; his character is another magnificent bumbler, whose actions somehow contrive to have enormous repercussions across the globe. br / br /Many of the cast from The Thick of It return in new roles, but this works perfectly well, while the return of the magnificently sweary Malcolm Tucker and Jamie MacDonald was more than welcome. br / br /Do not listen to the 1-star review already posted. This film is a comic masterpiece, and underlines the talent of Armando Iannucci and his cast. Amazon could sell this DVD at 10 times the price given, and you would still not waste your money. As you can probably tell, I really can't state enough what a great film this is! In The Loop June 18, 2009 C. MacLellan (Glasgow, Scotland) 23 out of 25 found this review helpful Prior to the release of In The Loop, Alastair Campbell said the film portrayed politicians and their advisers as crass and venal, which had never been his experience whilst in government. Then on the eve the film's release, Smeargate hit (I know, it sounds messy), with the expenses scandal to follow a few weeks later, proving that politics was indeed crass and venal. Iannucci 1 Campbell 0. br / br /On the eve of `a war' in the Middle East, Minister for International Development Simon Foster (Tom Hollander) accidentally states that war is "unforeseeable". This ambiguous statement is seized upon by both the hawks and doves in Washington, with each seeing Foster as their poster boy. On hand to clean up the...mess, is the Prime Minister's spin doctor Malcolm Tucker (Peter Capaldi). br / br /In The Loop is effectively a stretched out version of Iannucci's award winning television series The Thick of It., but one of the only characters linking the two is Peter Capaldi's ferocious government spin doctor Malcolm Tucker. Loosely based on Alastair Campbell, who claims Tucker is nothing like him (the gentlemen doth protest too much methinks), Capaldi's is an absolute joy to watch, as he spits fury at the bumbling government officials, both elected and unelected. Roughly every third word which comes from Tucker's mouth is a word you'd never use around your mother, but the writing is so intelligent, that it's impossible not to laugh as he spits fury. br / br /Despite portraying Her Majesty's government as blundering fools, the rest of the British cast put in strong performances. Tom Hollander's government minister is the perfect example of the new generation of career politician which currently fills the government benches, and Chris Addison's Toby continues this in his role as a government adviser...despite being younger and significantly less experienced than the minister who he his advising. br / br /When the storyline pops across the Atlantic to Washington D.C. and New York, the film does loose it's way slightly, as British audiences will naturally relate more to their own corridors of power and officials than they do those in the US. This doesn't mean that the US cast are left wanting for material, with some of the best jokes coming from the American counterparts, such as when James Gandolfini's General Miller adds up troop numbers on a child's computer. br / br /Despite the drop in pace, transferring the action to the US is essential, as it exposes the real `special relationship' which exists between the two countries - America leads whilst Britain follows. Even when he travels to the White House and the United Nations, the force ten hurricane that is Malcolm Tucker finds himself pushed towards the periphery. br / br /What makes In The Loop all the more brilliant is that once you've finished laughing at the superb performances and Iannucci's razor sharp script, you'll realise that the political world portrayed in the film is all too similar to our own, and that if this is how the world is being governed, we're all up the preverbal creek without a paddle. br / br /The Verdict br /Political satire of the highest standard - In The Loop definitely gets my vote!!! Best comedy in years June 19, 2009 Marcus Knight (UK) 15 out of 17 found this review helpful If you don't like swearing, don't buy this film. br / br /But for everyone else, who want a brilliant comedy, with brilliant laughs this is for you. Do not be put off by political comedy, it is so much more, it can be damn right filthy at times (although not necessarily a bad thing) but still delivers perfect nods-of-appreciation satire and send up of the glamour of American politics compared to English, and the bumbling-sometimes horrifying reason to start a war. It's full of lines that you will quote for the rest of your life. br /I cannot recommend this film and the TV series on which it is based (the thick of it) enough, this cannot be missed. "It's like Bugsy Malone, but with real guns. " October 12, 2009 russell clarke (halifax, west yorks) 7 out of 9 found this review helpful "Climbing the mountain of conflict"? You sounded like a Nazi Julie Andrews! " br /So says British Government enforcer Re-director of communications , Malcolm Tucker ( Peter Capaldi ) to frazzled rabbit in the headlights cabinet minister Simon Foster (Tom Hollander ) after he unintentionally has to extricate himself from a media ****storm ( as Tucker would put it ) brought about his use of one errant word in a discussion about a possible war in the middle east . br /This word contradicts ( or does it ) the Government line ."You may have heard him say that, but he didn't say that. And that's a fact." froths Tucker to the media but he did say it and our mates across the Atlantic are not happy ( or are they ) .Facts are not what they appear , they are what somebody wants them to be ."We have all the facts on this we need. We don't need any more facts. In the land of truth, my friend, the man with one fact is the king." This is Linton Barwick ( David Rasche ) a state department warmonger who uses a grenade as a paperweight and is at the forefront of the burgeoning pro-war lobby. br /Berwick's state department colleague and mortal enemy, Karen Clark (Mimi Kennedy), is in London just after Foster's verbal gaffe, and she seizes it as a chance to slow down the rush to war. She is aided by her put upon assistant Liza (Anna Chlumsky), who wrote a anti-war report that Linton is keen to discredit and anti -war General George Miller (James Gandolfini ) who makes the salient observation after doing some number crunching on a kids calculator -"At the end of a war, you need some soldiers left, really, or else it looks like you've lost.". br /Liza, for her part, is mortified that she's becoming well-known for writing a paper that so valiantly contradicts the hawkish political climate -- it's political suicide for her, as her fellow low-level staffer, Chad (Zach Woods), is only too happy to remind her. Chad spends most of his time hanging around Linton Berwick's office like a lost puppy and carries un-used squash gear in the hope that his boss will ask for him for a game. br /Lisa is also sort of involved romantically with Toby (Chris Addison ) ,assistant to Foster who is also leaking info to his mate at C.N.N. and dragging the hapless Simon to Washington along with a bug -eyed Tucker , fulminating that he is out of his comfort zone and rabid about the fact all the U.S. interns are 20 something's straight out of Harvard , or somewhere like it. "I've just come from a briefing with a nine-year-old child" he fumes "his briefing notes were written in alphabetti spaghetti". Foster also has the mounting debacle of a wall falling over in his constituency if that's not a contradiction in terms , to contend with. This will come back to haunt him. br /What In The Loop , like its Television predecessor does so very well is show that even in the higher corridors of power there are plenty of people with no real life experience who are actually not very good at their jobs and spend half their time trying to cover up their mistakes or deflect the blame onto someone else. Allied to clandestine vested interests with agendas based on anything but the common good this incompetence is how we end up with wars in places like Iraq based on nothing but lies and expansionism . br /As political satire this is truly coruscating stuff and it works beautifully , or should that be brutally . As comedy the joy comes from the performances and the quite exquisite script , rich with imagery and wonderfully inventive use of profanity . In the extras ( cat director interviews,commentary and deleted scenes -unusually well worth watching ) director Armando Iannucci points out that writer Ian Martin( credited with additional material ) writes all the superb sweary stuff .He also makes the point that the film is deliberately kept low key with the claustrophobic sets ( Prior to filming, Armando Iannucci gained access to the US Department of State by flashing a simple photo ID to a security guard and saying "BBC. I'm here for the 12:30." He then spent a few hours walking around taking pictures for his set designers) and lack of music decisions consciously made . br /So anyone expecting a more cinematic version of the The Thick Of It : Complete BBC Series 1 [2005] [DVD] It will be disappointed. Anyone expecting more top-notch satire , rough house hilarity and consummate verbal dexterity , in other words business as usual( except some of it is with American accents) will be thoroughly delighted .In the Loop has "nailed the line " and then some . br / br / br / br / A work of genius August 24, 2009 Antonio Moncayo (Zaragoza) 4 out of 5 found this review helpful I wished this had been released a few years ago when the Irak war was still high in the political agenda and ,although the timing is not perfect ( hence the low box office takings ) the movie is an example of perfect comedy genius. br / br /The humour is dry, intelligent and at times subtle but nevertheless brilliant. br / br /For those familiar with the "In the thick of it " no introductions are needed but for the rest of us , the plot follows a classical slip of the tongue form a junior minister that turn into a political storm pre Irak invasion. So the team had to travel to America to put things right , just to make them worse. br / br /The laughs are almost one very 30 seconds and I laughted all the way to end. br / br /Armando Iannuci direction can only be compared to Kubrick in Dr Strangelove in the perfect timing and sense of comedy. br / br /5 out of 5 Showing reviews 1-5 of 39 1 2 3 4 5 6 ...8 Next »

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