In The Loop - B+

In theaters. Not Rated, 106 minutes. Trailer.

"You don't believe it, I don't believe, but it is a useful hypocrisy." This line, spoken during an argument in the meditation room at the United Nations, encapsulates the irreverent tone and fallen worldview of British political farce In the Loop. The film follows a pathetic and sniveling UK government minister as he gaffes his way to facilitating a declaration of war (along with the United States) on an unnamed Middle Eastern enemy. Along the way the staffers and superiors in England and the United States colorfully and masterfully eviscerate each other and deliver line after line of deliciously caustic wit. Click below for more LOOP:

Stephen Foster is the diminutive and bumbling UK government minister who is heckled at every turn by Malcom Pluck, the Tarantino-ish bile spewing spin doctor for the Prime Minister. After his amorphous comments about a war excite the press, he continues to throw fuel on the fire while his female and male aid struggle to keep him happy and advance themselves. On the other side of the pond, two high level US State Department bureaucrats are at war over the potential war, and their aids spar mercilessly as their superiors make idiots of themselves. James Gandolfini also stars as American general George Miller, an anti-war non-soldier that comically huffs and puffs througut the film.

There is minimal character development and only a sketchy plot, but the film works anyway because of its ability to provide a venue for such a cynical and crass (but realistic) worldview. Those that are in charge are idiots and they make decisions arbitrarily - while not entirely true, it also isn't too much of a stretch. Not for those that are sensitive to crude language.

Here a couple extremely NSFW clips: Clip 1; Clip 2.