Over 135 uses of the f-word, at least two mentions of c*** and other constant profanities and insults crammed into a 106 minute British satirical black comedy. Only we could have this much swearing in a movie and make it so hilarious.
As you may know, In The Loop is a spinoff of the TV series The Thick Of It, which satirises how the modern British Government works. Both of them were written by comedian Armando Iannucci, who was a fan of the political sitcom Yes Minister from the 1980s. He described The Thick Of It as "Yes Minister meets Larry Summers". Both of them star Peter Capaldi as the violent, foul-mouthed Scot that is Malcolm Tucker, the Prime Minister's Director of Communications. He is outraged after the Minister for International Development Simon Foster (Tom Hollander) haphazardly tells BBC Radio 4 that a proposed war in the Middle East is "unforeseeable". Malcolm tries to ban Simon from any media appearances until he can be trusted to "keep the line". However, Simon encounters the press later that day and says "To walk the road of peace, sometimes we need to be ready to climb the mountain of conflict." Malcolm's response to this is one of my favourite lines in the film - "You sounded like a f****** Nazi Julia Andrews!" He decides to send Simon and his aide Toby (Chris Addison) to Washington, D.C. to be "room meat" whilst many of America's key political and military figures discuss the cases for and against war. However both sides want to use Simon in their favour and he has no idea what to do. He, to some extent, is representing the audience, so we imagine what would happen to us in that situation. Despite the fact they are on the verge of war, there are issues closer to home for him, which could damage his reputation as a minister further.
Apart from Peter Capaldi, most of the cast from The Thick Of It appear in the film, including Chris Addison, Alex MacQueen, James Smith and Joanna Scanlan. However, the only returning characters from The Thick Of It are Malcolm and Jamie McDonald (Paul Higgins), Senior Press Officer in the Office of the Prime Minister and "the crossest man in Scotland", but those who also appeared in it are essentially playing the same characters, but with different names and jobs. I like that because you would rather want somebody in a spinoff who you are familiar with from the original series. Plus, the characters they are playing in In The Loop aren't that different to those they played in The Thick Of It. Other cast members include Gina McKee, Mimi Kennedy, James Gandolfini (The Sopranos) and Steve Coogan, who Armando Iannucci worked with before on I'm Alan Partridge.
One of the filming techniques used was to film each scene twice. The first time is meant to be a word perfect version of the final script, because it was written by five people - Iannucci, Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Tony Roche and Ian Martin. The second time the actors add their own words to it and the camera is following them, instead of them following the camera, so you are able to see the changes in expressions very easily. There are many scenes where the audience can see a look of fear on the characters' faces or when Malcolm is wanting to give someone a b******ing.
The plot of this film satirises Anglo-American politics, particularly around the time of the invasion of Iraq. You can relate to the fact that Britain and the United Nations got dragged into the war in Iraq by America and it's much the same in this film, especially when the Americans use Simon's infamous words - "climb the mountain of conflict." There is one scene where they've typed that out in a variety of different fonts and Toby suggests that they use the style associated with the SS. Apparently, some of the bizarre scenes in the movie aren't that different to what actually happened. Were there meetings between key official in some child's bedroom whilst there was a formal reception downstairs? But one of the other things that is satirised is the reason why this film and the TV series are brilliant. There is popular belief that Malcolm is based mainly on Alastair Campbell, who was Tony Blair's Director of Communications. They both have a reputation for shouting their heads off at people, constant swearing and Alastair Campbell admits to doing something that Malcolm does in the film, which is talking on two mobile phone at the same time, even though he didn't like it. Peter Capaldi actually believes that in some cases he shares the same qualities as "Lord" Peter Mandelson and some of the other great spin-doctors in history.
Malcolm Tucker should go down as one of the greatest characters in TV/film history. The Guardian compared him to the likes of Rigsby, Basil Fawlty and Edmund Blackadder. Johnny Dee said "It's not just the brilliance of these creations that links these comedy giants, the pathos of all four men comes from their resigned certainty that they alone know what they are doing amid a sea of fools." He's one of those characters which you don't often see, but when you do they stand out. There's a reason why there are five writers and they allow Peter Capaldi to add his own words. How many writers can come up with great outbursts such as "This is a government department, not some f****** Jane f****** Austen novel! Allow me to pop a jaunty little bonnet on your purview and ram it up your s****** with a lubricated horse c***!" and "We burned this tight-arsed city to the ground in 1814. And I'm all for doing it again, starting with you, you frat f***. You get sarcastic with me again and I will stuff so much cotton wool down your f****** throat it'll come out your arse like the tail on a Playboy bunny"? I'm not interested in politics and probably never will be, but some of the best films take a subject that might not appeal to you , put on the screen in the most entertaining way and you're hooked. It's Britain's version of The West Wing, but ruder, funnier, swearier and with a demented Scot...
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