Review of 'In the Loop'

The just under two hours I spent watching ‘In the Loop’, though at times cringe-inducing, were most certainly a comic treat. The film works because it is such an obvious, over-the-top farce of the run up to the Iraq war. While I smugly reveled in the countless allusions to reality, the extreme caricature allowed me to suspend my own judgments on the war and simply enjoy the film. I found I could laugh at and belittle the characters representing those we all love to hate, and do the same for those whom I and many others might feel more ambivalent about in reality. As an American, I had the added delight in knowing that the arrogant and idiotic attitudes on display in Washington are firmly in my nation’s past. Gone are the days when America’s trusted allies are seen as no more than ‘meat in the room’, as the film puts it. At least, I hope so, and hope is after all the order of the day in the USA. Yet another cinematic glimpse into the British view of our politicians and bureaucrats only reconfirms what I have long suspected: you’ve got us figured out!

Anyone with background in Washington or London will enjoy, and probably recognise, the cast of supporting characters that make up the ‘In the Loop’ universe. The two young assistants at the State Department were archetypes of public service career hopefuls I know well from DC life. The idealistic liberal who believes rationality and meticulous research can win the day earned my empathy, while the disconcerting heartland conservative opportunist is a type I am sadly also all too familiar with. As anyone in politics knows, all these ‘behind the scenes’ characters help to make our capitals run and are the human faces usually unseen behind press releases and the pomp of officialdom. So it is with ‘In the Loop’, where these supporting players provide the comic substance that keep the laughs coming and plot moving between violent outbursts and sly plotting from the headliners who too often steal our attention in art as in life.

Comments

[Eremeeff]

Hi, I have already seen it somethere...