In The Loop - Good vs. Great

I went to see In The Loop on Sunday. Being a huge Armando Iannucci fan I was very excited – he has been involved in more comedy that I both admire and laugh like a drain at than anybody else. So to walk out 2 hours later a little disappointed was, well, disappointing.

The acerbic and incisive wit is there in abundance. So too is the healthy scepticism with which I think we should treat a lot of politicians. And it is bloody funny. So why was I disappointed? Well, trying to nail it down with my pal Ian afterwards there were a few things that made it good, but not great.

-       The plot was not very strong. The premise was, (i.e. two countries conspire to go to war through half truths and spin) but the way in which this premise was developed and played out was not terribly inspiring – and played second fiddle much of the time to the one-liners.

-       The insults of Malcolm Tucker end up becoming a little tedious – he is a man of pretty much pure evil – thus the humour in the insults wanes because there is nothing to like.

-       The film is clearly satirising the build up to the Iraq war, and nobody but Blair's Downing St. machine actually believes their version of events. So the film is satirising something that has been heavily satirised and commented on already and loses some of it’s bite.

-       The film lacked passion. A voice that was willing to say “This is wrong and not just a small wrong, but a socking great big wrong that people have got away with. Things don’t get much wronger than this people”. There are a couple of occasions when both James Gandolfini’s general and Tom Hollander’s minister show their true feelings on the prospect of going to war in such a morally bankrupt fashion – one moment in particular stands out, when Gandolfini’s General Miller, whilst eating noodles, reveals his concerns over the war and the suffering it will cause.
I doubt the filmmakers lacked passion - it just doesn't come across on screen. I suppose Armando Iannucci didn’t want to appear at all like a preacher; somebody who could be compared to and criticised by those he is satirising. I can understand this – but I think the film suffered a little as result.

Still there is plenty to enjoy.

-       I laughed a lot – “fuckety bye” is my new salutation.

-       Funny, intelligent satire that continues to expose the undemocratic, dishonest, truth-twisting of Blair’s Downing St (and probably Brown’s too) is no bad thing (incidentally I don’t for one minute think that the Tories will be any better).

-       The film made the point that those who take such serious decisions do not operate in the real world. Self-absorbed and ambitious, they have contempt for the truth and lose sight of the real reason they are in politics.

So whilst, in my humble opinion, In The Loop is good but not great, this perhaps isn’t such a bad thing – the film has an inherent goodness in its motives. I admire people who are good. I don’t often admire people who are thought of as great – just look at Diego Maradona.

Fuckety bye.