In The Loop DVD Review

A sort of Yes Minister for the 21st Century, but with sharper teeth, The Thick Of It is Armando Iannucci’s award-winning satirical comedy about the bureaucratic inner workings of the British Government. Starting out on BBC Four before being promoted to BBC 2 for a second series later this year, it’s also evolved into a spin-off film with  Iannucci making his directorial feature debut.  Well, more of a reimaging than a spin-off. While several of the cast appear in the film, only two of them reprise their characters from the series. Paul Higgins is again ‘the angriest man in Scotland’, Senior Press Officer Jamie Macdonald, while Peter Capaldi turns up the volume on his role as No 10’s Director of Communications and all round rottweiller, Malcom Tucker.

Taking the run up to the Middle East war as its background, the plot involves Tucker pursuing damage limitation on a PR gaff by Simon Foster (a wonderfully buffoonish Tom Hollander), Minister of International Development, after he says war is ‘unforseeable’ during a radio interview.  Since both the UK and US are, unofficially, making plans for invasion, this is clearly not a line Tucker wants the government to be seen as advocating. On the other hand, when the bumbling Foster subsequently talks about climbing the mountain of conflict, nor does it want to be seen as suggesting war is inevitable.

With both the doves, in the form of the US Assistant Secretary for Diplomacy, Karen Clarke (Mimi Kennedy), and peacenick General Miller (James Gandolfini), and the hawks, represented by the State Department’s secret chief of the war committee, Linton Barwick (David Rasche), both looking to play Foster as a meat puppet for their own agendas, it’s Tucker’s mission to steer spins, leaks, doublespeak and convenient alliances to serve the ultimate interests at stake.

An assortment of characters all looking out for their own careers amid the swirling political storms provide added rich colour, most notable among them Foster’s newbie advisor, Toby (Chris Addision), his erstwhile college lover now Clarke’s ambitious aide Liza (Anna Chlumsky) with her anti-war report, Gina McKee as Judy, the Ministry’s waspish Director Communications, and Zach Woods’ smug, brown-nosing American political intern Chad.

There’s also a cameo from Steve Coogan as one of Foster’s disgruntled constituents who’s more concerned about his mom’s garden wall collapsing than any impending war. As it turns out, the wall may prove a brick too far.

However, it’s Capaldi who, in a torrent of inventive foul mouthery (“fuckity bye” could become the new sign off), eats up the screen, browbeating, humiliating and generally savaging everyone around him in a manner that should, of course, not in any way be seen as a mirror of Peter Mandelson.

Shot using hand held camera, brilliantly plotted, terrifically acted, with part improvised scalpel sharp dialogue and smart one liners (war, says Gandolfini, is like France, “once you’ve seen it, you never want to go back”), it’s an inspired cross between The Office and Dr. Strangelove; by far the more intelligent, funniest and sweariest comedy this year with nobody off limits as targets for its satire or absurdity.

All the better news then that, along with interviews, the extras feature both a continuous 22 minutes of  no less hilarious deleted scenes and three sets of webisodes, including a series of leg-wetting exchanges between Toby and Chad.