Film out on DVD: 'In the Loop'

Cast: James Gandolfini, David Rasche, Anna Chlumsky, Paul Higgins, Gina McKee, Mimi Kennedy, Alex MacQueen, Olivia Poulet, Zach Woods, Enzo Cilenti

Director: Armando Iannucci

Distributor: Madman Entertainment

Reviewer: Rama Gaind

This is a rapier-sharp political send-up about British and US politics in the lead-up to a war in the Middle East that purposely hits the funny bone – and how!

Depending on your interpretation, it features some of the best, or worst, swearing that certainly breaks new ground. Ian Martin is one writer who was apparently employed as a "swearing consultant".

This comic film of war has a devilishly clever spin even though the plot is deliberately opaque. What is everyone doing? No-one is sure of what they are doing or why it should matter. All they know is that it should have happened.

Even though the UK Prime Minister and the US President fancy a war, not everyone agrees that war is a good thing.

Both US General Miller (Gandolfini) and the British Secretary of State for International Development, Simon Foster (Tom Hollander) don’t think so. However, Simon gains a lot of friends in Washington, DC, after he accidentally backs military action on TV.

Then of course there’s the British prime minister's director of communications, Malcolm Tucker (Peter Capaldi): how can he be stopped from rigging the vote at the UN?

Excelling on a number of dramatic levels, the film is particularly noticeable when it comes to displaying the heartless interpersonal tensions that well-up between characters who should be trustful and supportive instead of exhibiting betrayal.

The gifted British writer-director Armando Iannucci (BBC series 'The Thick of It'), keeps a tight reign on the fast and furiously funny dialogue.