Return of Loop Maestro

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"I'm trying to think of another American comedy that has this kind of vigor and springy step," I said this morning during a breakfast interview with In The Loop director Armando Iannucci. "The overwhelming majority of American comedies are geared for guys like Turtle on Entourage, and they don't have a fraction of the mental alertness, that special Preston Sturges-like quality, that In The Loop has."

I forgot to snap a photo this morning of In The Loop director Armando Iannucci, but this is where we sat for breakfast at the Cooper Union hotel.

I also remarked that "if I was a major comedian -- if I were a Jim Carrey or a Steve Martin -- I would consider it vital to somehow work with you somewhere down the line. Sooner or later. There are just not that many people who know how to do this sort of thing, or even care to do this sort of thing well. The lines are just snap-snap-snap. Like Sullivan's Travel or The Lady Eve."

Seven months after enjoying an uproarious debut at the '09 Sundance Film Festival, In The Loop -- easily one of the sharpest and funniest potty-mouth comedies about governmental inanity and media mis-speak ever made -- is finally about to open. IFC is doing one of their simultaneous indie-level theatrical and IFC On Demand preems on 7.24.

I posted my first Iannucci interview (including an mp3) on 1.13, when George Bush was still president. And now I've done another one.

With an invitational Manhattan screening-and-after-party of In The Loop set for this evening, I sat down this morning with Iannucci at the Cooper Square hotel.

In The Loop director-writer Armando Iannucci, costar James Gandolfini.

In The Loop costars Peter Capaldi, James Gandolfini, Tom Hollander, David Rashe, Gina McKee, Chris Addison, Anna Chulmsky and Mimi Kennedy. It's basically about how the media can sometimes focus on a gaffe by an official or spokesperson and make it sound (via sheer repetition and obsession) to represent firm government policy concerning this or that major issue.

In The Loop's major issue is a potential military conflict involving U.S. and British troops -- think Iraq in late '02 and early '03. The humor is about how various second- and third-tier government types in London and Washington try to dodge, maneuver and counter-spin their way around an essentially meaningless statement by a British cabinet minister that war is "unforeseeable." Meaningless and yet strangely meaningful once the media gets hold of it. And the source of endless misery for many people.

"One of the most robust pleasures of In The Loop," I said this morning, "is the wonderfully creative and liberal use of absolutely disgusting profanity. It's really some of the funniest uses of it. Was every word of it pretty much scripted?"

"More or less, yeah," Iannucci replied. "You do improvisation, but that's just to loosen it up and make it feel more natural. But with Malcolm's...with Malcolm's swearing, it has to be so precisely done. He does it syllable for syllable, precisely as on the page.

"I've tried to describe that sense of absolute certainty that comes when you're watching a comedy that is absolutely working," I continued. "To get that feeling one of two things seem to have happened. One is that al the actors have gone to some kind of comedy boot camp and had it drilled into them that there's a certain attitude that energy that they all need to absorb and radiate, because they're all of a piece."

I love how Iannucci, who is Scottish-British, says "Pentagen" rather than "Penta-gone.

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on July 13, 2009 at 9:36 AM

comment #1

Joshua Mooney says ...

I see about $15 worth of orange juice left on that table!

Posted by Joshua Mooney at July 13, 2009 10:38 AM

comment #2

Stringer Bell says ...

So, what was for breakfast?

Posted by Stringer Bell at July 13, 2009 10:42 AM

comment #3

BoshBarnetWonkyDonkey says ...

"Scottish-British"

Haha.

Posted by BoshBarnetWonkyDonkey at July 13, 2009 10:42 AM

comment #4

Circumvrent says ...

Jeff is absolutely right, this movie is the real deal. There's a moment towards the end while Capaldi calls another character a shitty name (I'm trying to be vague), and the theatre I saw it in burst out laughing completely in unison. I can't wait to see it again, via On Demand or another visit to the theatre.

Posted by Circumvrent at July 13, 2009 11:23 AM

comment #5

PopcornEyeglass says ...

The best American comparison to Loop is probably Arrested Development. Both of them have that special screwball vibe that you mention going on, and both are utter genius.

Posted by PopcornEyeglass at July 13, 2009 11:32 AM

comment #6

TulseLuper says ...

There's a great line by Larry David in Curb Your Enthusiasm: "You add a fuck, you double your laughs." It occurred to me while sitting through The Hangover last month and being the only one in the cinema not laughing that just saying the F-word simply isn't funny. In The Loop uses the art of swearing so brilliantly that it puts the profanities in comedies like The Hangover to shame.

I'm worried about the marketing of In The Loop. The trailer was on FunnyorDie for quite some time but didn't make it onto the Apple Trailers site until a couple weeks ago. It's like IFC Films is scared to market what is clearly the funniest and smartest picture of the year. I'm doing my best to tell as many people as possible about it, hoping that word-of-mouth will develop, but who knows? It did okay in Britain but wasn't the big hit it should've been.

I really hope it gets an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay.

Posted by TulseLuper at July 13, 2009 11:38 AM

comment #7

Gordie Lachance says ...

I wanted to see this film until I heard that it makes a point of bashing I Heart Huckabees in the end credits.

I would have asked the director if that was some kind of inside joke or if he really thinks he's something special?

Posted by Gordie Lachance at July 13, 2009 11:48 AM

comment #8

TulseLuper says ...

Who cares? It's just a joke. There's a deleted scene in which a character complains about There Will Be Blood not having enough blood in it. Now, that film is one of my favorite movies. Didn't bother me in the slightest. I feel sorry for you if you're going to avoid seeing In The Loop because of one Huckabees joke. That's not what the film is about.

Posted by TulseLuper at July 13, 2009 11:55 AM

comment #9

buster keaton says ...

To quote the L.A. Times' crack film reporter (or was it a L.A. Times' film reporter smoking crack?) "If Iannucci had to lose one of his limbs to frostbite at Sundance, which limb would it be?"

http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2009/01/fresh_and_cool_or_old_and.php

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/sundance/2009/01/live-from-my-24.html

Posted by buster keaton at July 13, 2009 1:07 PM

comment #10

Conor says ...

"The Thick Of It" the tv show which "In The Loop" is based on actually employed some one as a "swearing consultant"

Posted by Conor at July 13, 2009 4:22 PM

comment #11

lipranzer says ...

As I mentioned in Jeff's "What Kind of Half-Year has it Been?" post, this and THE HURT LOCKER are my favorite movies of the year so far. It's been a long time since I've seen a movie so consistently edgy, funny, and smart (TROPIC THUNDER was all three, but not consistently). And yes, Peter Capaldi is brilliant.

Posted by lipranzer at July 13, 2009 4:52 PM

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