Funny Being In the Loop

Just imagine a world where the UK and America want to go to war, but it may be that lots of people around the world are not in agreement about it. I know, it is hard to imagine such a wild tale, right? Well, with that preposterous premise, the new movie "In the Loop" starts running and then never lets up even for a second.

The movie is loaded with stars that will make you say things like, "I think I've seen him somewhere before." The one exception is James Gandolfini but he is nothing at all like Tony Soprano here. Gandolfini's voice is much less rough than Tony's and seeing him in other roles you begin to appreciate just how much acting actually went into playing the mob boss.

The movie starts with a minister in the British government giving an interview. He is not on the air to talk about the looming war, but it is something that comes up. When he says that the war is "unforeseeable" it soon seems as if the UK is going to go to war and is endorsing the U.S. bid to go to war and one man's minor slip of the tongue sets a number of events in motion that happen so fast and so intense it is almost impossible to keep up.

The accents here are amazingly thick. However, if you listen carefully you will get a lot of the jokes, but they come at you like from some 50 millimeter Gatling gun strung to the side of an attack helicopter. You are still laughing at the last joke when the next one hits. Sometimes the jokes hit and it takes you a moment as you sit there saying, "wait, did he just -?"

Peter Capaldi plays Malcom Tucker as what must be one of the most foul-mouthed performances in recent memory. He storms around the halls of power making the most horrendous threats to people. At one point, chastising Simon for his blunder, he says, "Well, it is out there, it's out there now, lurking like a big hairy rapist at a coat station. You know, if I could, I'd punch you into paralysis!"

The players move with ridiculous ease from the UK to the United States. Committees are disguised as things other than what they are. A war committee is disguised as a generic "future planning committee." The barbs, insults, witticisms and lightning-fast dialogue fly past your ears. This is not a dumb and mindless comedy where people walk around half naked and making jokes about the male anatomy. This is a comedy where you have to pay attention and a moment's distraction will cause you to lose threads of the story.

The story itself, however, is probably not meant to be followed. Exactly who the two powers are going to war with is never revealed. Exactly why anyone wants to go to war with anyone is never revealed. All that is needed for the viewer to know is that the two powers want to go to war and are going to be making their pitch to the UN explaining why it should be OK for them to do so.

This is a very sharp movie. However, it is a movie with such foul language that you will be left gasping. All of the performances are outstanding. One particular surprise is the adult Anna Chlumsky, of "My Girl" fame, showing that she should be given a chance as an adult actress and that she has remarkable comedic timing. She is effortless in the role of Liza, the assistant to an American politician who not only has to help her boss get on the right committees but help her deal with her dental problems.

"In the Loop" is a movie a bit lost in the summer sturm and drang of the loud movies featuring unidentifiable robots colliding with each other. It is playing in only a few select theaters and is available on OnDemand on Comcast cable via the IFC channel. It is worth seeking out and for those of you unafraid to think when you are also trying to laugh, it is worth watching.