comment #1

TulseLuper says ...

IFC should be ashamed for doing such a half-assed marketing job with In The Loop. I dragged two of my best friends to see it over the summer, neither of them knew anything about it, and they laughed all the way through. I've had my fingers crossed for a Best Adapted Screenplay nomination, but unless IFC spends the money on some screeners or FYC ads, it's bound to be snubbed.

The new series of The Thick of It is brilliant. It's on par with The Office now as one of the finest sitcoms of the decade, beautifully mixing comedy with tragedy as Malcolm Tucker finds his career hanging by a thread while the new Minister tries to balance her turbulent family life with her professional life. The episode which this clip comes from is the best thing attached to the names Iannucci and Capaldi etc.

comment #2

Chase Kahn says ...

I actually liked Tom Hollander a bit more in this, I thought he was genius.

comment #3

PopcornEyeglass says ...

He's great, no question, but do you really think he's better than Christoph Waltz? I wouldn't say so.

comment #4

Jeffrey Wells says ...

I would. They're both essentially doing personality bits, and Capaldi's is much livelier and more entertaining.

comment #5

WJ says ...

Capaldi and Waltz are about neck-and-neck with me. But Capaldi left a much more distinct impression, and I have to admit, I'll be using some of those insults for years (decades?) to come. If only more people knew this film existed...

comment #6

SnarfTheFierce says ...

This movie is an immediate classic. I saw it alone, then took the girlfriend, then OnDemanded it for a couple of friends. The response was across-the-board adoration, and it didn't once feel old to me (hell, (I've watched the "best of Malcolm Tucker" compilations on YouTube multiple times). Capaldi deserves at least a nomination, but even that's sadly a long shot. Whether he wins is immaterial--the exposure of a nom would at least get the film some press. It's so damn funny, and--in the end--fucking chilling.

Also, can we please get The Thick Of It on DVD in the States now? Pretty please?

comment #7

TulseLuper says ...

Capaldi is definitely better than Waltz. I love Waltz's performance but he's no Malcolm Tucker. Plus, comedy performances that good deserve more accolades.

comment #8

rayciscon says ...

Did he say "James Fucking May"?

As a Top Gear fan, that made my day!

comment #9

LauraReeling says ...

I'm totally behind Capaldi as a Best Supporting Actor nominee...

comment #10

fattyhadaparty says ...

Yawn. Capaldi's rants become tiresome after, oh, I don't know, the seventh or eighth one.

Honestly, do you know of anyone who behaved like this in the workplace and was allowed to get away with it more than twice? I could buy it (maybe) if he was a Hollywood director, a captain of industry or a third-world dictator, but those types generally have more than just a contemptuous attitude and harsh rhetoric to back them up.

By this point in his career, Malcolm would have taken a few physical beatings from his coworkers who just couldn't put up with the unending river of shit flowing out of his mouth. He would have never been allowed to rise to the position of mid-level bureaucrat, because all he knows how to do is threaten and intimidate. In fact, considering he works alongside with a lot military intelligence types, I'm surprised he didn't end up bleeding to death in some K street alley. But, they just don't make happy endings anymore. Sigh.

comment #11

TulseLuper says ...

Obviously, fattyhadaparty has never heard of Alistair Campbell.

comment #12

Eloi Manning says ...

Ultimately he's a sitcom character doing a sitcom character's schtick. He's excellent and entertaining, but give him an Emmy or Golden Globe or something for The Thick of It. It'd be like nominating Dan Castellaneta for The Simpsons Movie.

comment #13

TulseLuper says ...

Great acting is great acting, period. If the second series of The Office had been a film, would you have dismissed his heartfelt turn at the very end when he begged for his job back on the grounds that it was just sitcom shtick? Malcolm's quiet breakdown in the meditation room towards the end of In the Loop is one of the finest pieces of acting I've seen this year. Nothing shtick-like about it.

comment #14

polarbear says ...

Give the award to Waltz or Alfred Molina. Peter Capaldi already has an Oscar.

comment #15

arturobandini2 says ...

Definitely give Capaldi the edge over Waltz. Both played one-note characters, but at least Capaldi's was consistent. Waltz's actions in his final scene made not one lick of sense. That was bad writing, not bad acting, but if you're going to penalize Kristin Scott Thomas for the same thing, I see no reason why Waltz shouldn't be held to the same standard. Molina was a lot of fun in An Education, but he's had better opportunities to shine.

comment #16

BurmaShave says ...

I am on the fence about who is better, but people will certainly be talking about Hanz Landa for years to come as well.

comment #17

Michcarey says ...

He would have never been allowed to rise to the position of mid-level bureaucrat, because all he knows how to do is threaten and intimidate"

And he hasn''t. Tucker is not a bureaucrat he is a political fixer. In the pay of the party and ferocious in serving its interests (as he sees them). The role may be honed for satire but there are plenty of party animals who confuse toughness for abuse. And the genius of that episode is at the end when the minister tells Tucker that the violence of win at all costs is why people loath politics. And then she succumbs to his "no prisoners"view....