Rent In the Loop (2009)

Hilarious Political Satire - In the Loop review by GI

Based on the BBC TV series The Thick of It this is an absolutely hilarious political satire and no doubt very close to reality. Tom Hollander, a wonderfully versatile actor and a brilliant comedy one, plays Simon Foster, a hapless British Minister of State, who being incompetent at press interviews inadvertently offers a view on a brewing International conflict which brings the wrath of the Government Communications head Malcolm Tucker down upon him. Tucker is the bullying and very abusive creation of Peter Capaldi and he's really funny even while you are cringing at the highly imaginative insults he delivers to all who get in his way. Even if you are unfamiliar with the TV series on which it's based this film stands alone and it will have you in hysterics. It's all very adult humour and has aspects that resonate with today's political problems. Fantastic support cast includes Gina McKee and James Gandolfini. This is one of the finest modern comedies of recent years and if you loved director Armando Iannucci's The Death of Stalin (2007) then check this out too.

Funny - but not as funny as it thinks it is - In the Loop review by Tim from London

A great script and some wonderful lines. It is cetainly worth watching for the Alastair Campbell character alone. The big weakness is that unfortunately he is overused and consequently the other characters feel underdeveloped and one dimentional. The jokes fly think and fast - sometimes they hit but occasionally they miss (the line about driving a person to assisted euthanasia for instance was poorly judged in light of the Dr David Kelly affair).

Awful - In the Loop review by CP Customer

Can't believe I rented this: a loud sweaty bloke is wearing to say the least and he seemed to be the central theme to the film. Difficult to make head nor tail or characters I didn't really care about and if there was a storyline I didn't notice it....

Not for me - In the Loop review by CS

Political satire but quite believable. Constant swearing ruined this movie for me and would have turned it off after 20 minutes.

Husband was quite taken with it so had to endure 90 minutes of rubbish. Each to their own !

An extreme case of coprolalia - In the Loop review by DJ

l believe it is all to do with one's upbringing, but having recently viewed the beginning of this film, I find it synonymous with the present day establishment in the House of Commons.  In this respect, I'm believing that this film was written and produced by an 'insider', who knew more than most about those involved in politics.  Were it to have been considered a lampooning of the political establishment in the past, today it is pretty close to being a documentary!  A personal opinion, of course.

The language is totally unacceptable, unnecessary and unworthy of the name entertainment, however, there is a group of the younger set who will doubtless enjoy the coprolalia, and it may even go unnoticed by those suffering from the same syndrome.

Five minutes into the film, including the titles, it was ejected.  I think that says it all.