The British and American governments are planning to start a war in the Middle East. The crisis turns into a chaotic media grotesque when the British Minister for International Development, Foster, clumsily says during an interview that a war is "unforeseeable", causing an angry backlash from his superior, the Prime Minister's Director of Communications, Malcolm. The British officials travel to Washington to talk the crisis through, and meet the American General Miller and Assistant Secretary of State for Policy Barwick. The only source that advocates urgent military intervention is the non-transparent man called "Iceman". The officials try to stop the news from publishing their data before the vote at the UN. In the end, Foster is fired.
Even though it is never mentioned directly during the entire film, and even though all the names and characters are fictional, "In the Loop" is an obvious satire on the events leading up to the Iraq War and the administration of George W. Bush and Tony Blair trying to "sell" the war to the public, despite lack of support. Director and co-screenwriter Armando Iannucci enjoys making fun of the flawed politicians and their agenda, inserting several burlesque moments, yet he erred by filming the entire story with a shaky, hand-held camera, which is not that cinematic and seems clumsy and chaotic at times. Some of the lines, despite being burdened by too many pop-culture references, are simply irresistibly funny and delicious to listen to, and a good deal of them ended up landing in the hands of excellent Tom Hollander as Foster. In one such moment, Foster and General Miller have this comical exchange: "I am a fake hawk." - "Are you an idiot? Or a fake idiot?" In another funny scene, Jamie is kicking a fax machine that leaked secret data to the public, and attacks the man who did it in the office, but suddenly stops to shout at the sound of the opera playing in the next room: "Hang on, hang on, for a start, turn that racket off! It's just vowels!" Malcolm insults the American Assistant Secretary of State with these words: "You know, I've come across a lot of psychos, but none as boring as you!" Strong dialogues, though the movie would have benefited if it did not have such a frenzy-fast pace and instead slowed down for the viewers to enjoy more in such writing acrobatics.
Grade:++
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