In the Loop (2009) (R)
Directed by Armando Iannucci
Starring: Peter Capaldi, Tom Hollander, Gina McKee, James Gandolfini
Daddy Says:
In the Loop is based off a BBC comedy called The Thick of It. Having never seen the original comedy, I can't say how this compares. I can say that this is one of the funniest movies I've seen in many years.
The movie tracks the power players in the corridors of British and American power. Through lies, misunderstandings, good and bad intelligence gathering, and public relations blunders, we track a fictional crisis in the Middle East that grows over a few days. Though the entire thing is played for laughs, the movie shows how easily the slightest of things can affect the course of history.
Peter Capaldi, playing the same role as he did in the original show, steals the show as the continuously foul-mouthed, frustrated Director of Communications for the British Prime Minister. His use of grammatically proper English combined with some of the most innovative cursing I've heard kept me in stitches. He gets even more profane in the faces of people who won't use profanity (one character actually spells out his curse words replacing middle letters with the word "stars" when he says them, i.e. "he's full of S-star-star-T").
In fact, the movie is chock-full of great dialogue that I never quite knew where it was going next. As an example, a guy sees a girl that he once knew. He calls out to her and tells her to give him a call sometime. After she's left, he turns to his female companion and remarks that she probably doesn't even remember him. "That is one of the side-effects of Rohypnol", he's told.
If you're a fan of British comedy, In the Loop is perfect for you. It reminds me a lot of Fawlty Towers in terms of quick pace and well-defined characters. Be warned of two things: First, that the dialogue goes very fast (you may find yourself having to rewind to catch some of the more intricate bits); and second, that there is an "S-star-star-T"-load of cussing in this movie.
Rating for In the Loop: ****3/4.
Daughter Says:
Once again another disappointing movie came my way. Maybe it was just me and my unknowingness caused me not to understand a bit of In the Loop. This movie just wasn't funny for me.
I had many problems with this movie. Let's begin with the speed of it. It was too fast. That's all I have to say. Just kidding, I'll go into detail for you. I'm sure it would have been absolutely hilarious if I could catch a single word they said. Not only were they talking too fast, they were using words that I didn't quite catch or don't understand yet. Another problem I had with the way they talked was they were in Britain, which means they had English accents. So now on top of having extreme trouble catching up with them they were also hard to understand.
Next problem was I didn't quite get what they were talking about. There was something about this guy saying that diarrhea was like war. Then missing up and saying that there was no war in the future. (Apparently that would be a bad thing to say) Now the Americans are involved and I'm already lost. The story line was hard for me to follow. I didn't know diarrhea was such a big deal across the universe and how war was involved.
So this movie was not meant for teens apparently. So I'm going to have to say avoid until you are older.
Rating for In The Loop: **.
Directed by Armando Iannucci
Starring: Peter Capaldi, Tom Hollander, Gina McKee, James Gandolfini
Daddy Says:
In the Loop is based off a BBC comedy called The Thick of It. Having never seen the original comedy, I can't say how this compares. I can say that this is one of the funniest movies I've seen in many years.
The movie tracks the power players in the corridors of British and American power. Through lies, misunderstandings, good and bad intelligence gathering, and public relations blunders, we track a fictional crisis in the Middle East that grows over a few days. Though the entire thing is played for laughs, the movie shows how easily the slightest of things can affect the course of history.
Peter Capaldi, playing the same role as he did in the original show, steals the show as the continuously foul-mouthed, frustrated Director of Communications for the British Prime Minister. His use of grammatically proper English combined with some of the most innovative cursing I've heard kept me in stitches. He gets even more profane in the faces of people who won't use profanity (one character actually spells out his curse words replacing middle letters with the word "stars" when he says them, i.e. "he's full of S-star-star-T").
In fact, the movie is chock-full of great dialogue that I never quite knew where it was going next. As an example, a guy sees a girl that he once knew. He calls out to her and tells her to give him a call sometime. After she's left, he turns to his female companion and remarks that she probably doesn't even remember him. "That is one of the side-effects of Rohypnol", he's told.
If you're a fan of British comedy, In the Loop is perfect for you. It reminds me a lot of Fawlty Towers in terms of quick pace and well-defined characters. Be warned of two things: First, that the dialogue goes very fast (you may find yourself having to rewind to catch some of the more intricate bits); and second, that there is an "S-star-star-T"-load of cussing in this movie.
Rating for In the Loop: ****3/4.
Daughter Says:
Once again another disappointing movie came my way. Maybe it was just me and my unknowingness caused me not to understand a bit of In the Loop. This movie just wasn't funny for me.
I had many problems with this movie. Let's begin with the speed of it. It was too fast. That's all I have to say. Just kidding, I'll go into detail for you. I'm sure it would have been absolutely hilarious if I could catch a single word they said. Not only were they talking too fast, they were using words that I didn't quite catch or don't understand yet. Another problem I had with the way they talked was they were in Britain, which means they had English accents. So now on top of having extreme trouble catching up with them they were also hard to understand.
Next problem was I didn't quite get what they were talking about. There was something about this guy saying that diarrhea was like war. Then missing up and saying that there was no war in the future. (Apparently that would be a bad thing to say) Now the Americans are involved and I'm already lost. The story line was hard for me to follow. I didn't know diarrhea was such a big deal across the universe and how war was involved.
So this movie was not meant for teens apparently. So I'm going to have to say avoid until you are older.
Rating for In The Loop: **.
No comments:
Post a Comment