Iannucci’s IN THE LOOP Begins Principal Photography!

Oh, this make Todd happy beyond words.  To my way of thinking Britain’s Armando Iannucci is quite likely the world’s greatest living political satirist.  Yes, yes, I love me some Stewart and Colbert as well but compared to Iannucci those two are positively dim which says mountains about the Brit’s fierce intelligence and wit.  Thing is not much of anybody outside of the UK knows who Iannucci is thanks to his best work all being done for television.  Steve Coogan’s I’m Alan Partridge?  Iannucci wrote that.  Biting news satire The Day Today (the show partially responsible for launching similarly brilliant satirist Chris Morris).  Also Iannucci.  His best work, however, is the absolutely brilliant political satire series The Thick Of It, a short run series revolving around behind the scenes strategists and mid-level ministers in the British government scrambling to spin the news and keep their jobs.  It’s sharp, it’s brilliant and it’s hysterically funny.  It’s also being remade for American television with Iannucci and the minds behind Arrested Development at the helm.

And now Iannucci is moving (finally!) to the big screen.  The film is titled In The Loop and it’s tempting to label it a Thick of It film thanks to it’s overtly political nature and the appearance of several Thick of It characters but it is a lot more than that.  Here’s the spin:

The US President and UK Prime Minister suddenly fancy a war. But it’ll be quick this time. Promise!  The US General Miller (James Gandolfini) doesn’t think so and the British Secretary of State for International Development, Simon Foster (Tom Hollander), agrees with him.  But, after Simon accidentally backs military action on prime-time TV, he suddenly has a lot of friends in Washington, DC. If Simon can get in with the right DC people, if his entourage of one (Chris Addison) can sleep with the right intern (Anna Chlumsky), and if they can both stop the PM’s chief strategist Malcolm Tucker (Peter Capaldi) rigging the vote at the UN, they can halt the war. If they don’t… well, they can always sack their advisor Judy (Gina McKee), who they never liked anyway and who’s back home dealing with voters with blocked drains and a man who’s angry about a collapsing wall (Steve Coogan).

Capaldi reprising his Malcolm Tucker character alone makes this a must see - Tucker is one of the greatest comedy creations ever, all the more so because of how creepily recognizable he is - Addison’s a blast, Coogan reuniting with Iannucci is momentous and the addition of Chlumsky and Gandolfini is the mighty tasty icing on the cake.  This can’t come fast enough.