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Kansas City's Online Journal of the Performing Arts

War is hell, but first there's political hell to pay in the often profane comedy In The Loop when a lowly British cabinet minister opens a Pandora's box during an interview and endangers secretive efforts by America and the United Kingdom to launch a war.

His press interview is smooth initially but when Simon Foster (Tom Hollander), UK's Minister for International Development, blunders by saying that war is "unforeseeable" the British government goes into spin control. Wanting to keep a lid on the prime minister's pro-war stance, foul-mouthed communications chief Malcom Tucker (Peter Capaldi) tries in vain to get the clueless Foster to keep his mouth shut.

Foster and his newly-arrived assistant, Toby Wright (Chris Addison) are sent to Washington D.C. where Foster, who's personally against the war, is used to show British support for war. However, Foster is only a hapless piece of meat as a struggle takes place within the State Department as to who is and who isn't on a secret war committee.

Mix in a temperamental U.S. general (James Gandolfini) and a tryst between Toby and his American counterpart Liza (Anna Chlumsky), which results in a pivotal press leak, and you have a political comedy that Stanley Kubrick might have been proud of.

Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove successfully reflected, in comedic form, the fear of a nuclear holocaust during the height of the Cold War in 1964. While In The Loop is not blatantly grounded on the modern day equivalent of terrorism, its story paints the American and UK governments as being hawkish, warmongering spin doctors who manipulate facts to suit their needs in spite of their ineptitude. Particular details reflect how the reliability of information provided to international governments in the months preceding the current war in Iraq was not truly questioned until after it had started.

For most of its running time, In The Loop is brilliantly clever with quick, witty dialogue that oozes dry British humor. Capaldi's tirades are hilarious and would even make Hugh Laurie's sour Dr. Gregory House blush. However, while Dr. Strangelove ended with a bang, In The Loop ends more with a whimper and should have either been trimmed down or had its last third given more juice.

On a letter grade scale from A being excellent to F for failing, In The Loop receives a B+.
    
In The Loop is rated R and has a running time of 106 minutes.

Now showing through August 27
Tivoli Cinemas
Westport Manor Square, 4050 Pennsylvania, KCMO.
Visit www.tivolikc.com or call 913-383-7756 for showtimes.

By Michael D. Smith

Indie Film Editor

Michael D. Smith earned a Bachelor of Arts in history at College of the Ozarks in Point Lookout, Missouri followed by a Master of Arts in history at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Inspired by such critics as Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, Michael started reviewing films in 1992 for College of the Ozarks's student-run newspaper. After returning to the Kansas City area in 1994, he continued film reviewing by writing for the Cass County Democrat Missourian in Harrisonville.

In 2000 Michael joined Sun Publications in Overland Park, Kansas where he served as its film critic and Arts and Entertainment Editor. During his tenure there, he was also the film critic for the "Fine Arts Radio Hour" and "Celebrity Scoop" radio shows on KXTR. After leaving the Sun in late 2002, he became the A&E writer for the Olathe News in Olathe, Kansas. He also worked as a freelance writer for The Squire in Leawood, Showcase Publishing in Lake Ozark, Missouri and the Kansas City Star.

Michael is currently a member of the Kansas City Film Critics Circle, a professional film critic organization established in 1966 by the late Dr. James Loutzenhiser.