The defence The Sentimental Softie
“Sincerity is not manipulation.”
The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.
Back to trending 
In the Loop
Comedy · 2009
The US President and the UK Prime Minister are planning on launching a war in the Middle East, but—behind the scenes—government officials and advisers are either promoting the war or are trying to prevent it.
Movie details
In the Loop
“The fate of the world is on the line.”
2009 Comedy 1h 46m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
7.0 / 10
Community rating
The US President and the UK Prime Minister are planning on launching a war in the Middle East, but—behind the scenes—government officials and advisers are either promoting the war or are trying to prevent it.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over In the Loop?
For the defence
The Sentimental Softie
“You came to feel something, and you will.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Cool Ironist
“Feeling things is a little embarrassing.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
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Monty Python's The Meaning of Life
Comedy · 1983
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Office Space
Comedy · 1999
A depressed white-collar worker tries hypnotherapy, only to find himself in a perpetual state of devil-may-care bliss that prompts him to start living by his own rules, and hatch a hapless attempt to embezzle money from his soul-killing employers.
One of Them Days
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Best friends and roommates Dreux and Alyssa are about to have One of Them Days. When they discover Alyssa’s boyfriend has blown their rent money, the duo finds themselves going to extremes in a comical race against the clock to avoid eviction and keep their friendship intact.
Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
Comedy · 2006
Kazakh journalist Borat Sagdiyev travels to America to make a documentary. As he zigzags across the nation, Borat meets real people in real situations with hysterical consequences. His backwards behavior generates strong reactions around him exposing prejudices and hypocrisies in American culture.
Jimmy Carr: Natural Born Killer
Comedy · 2024
Jimmy Carr refutes the idea that you can't joke about anything these days with his edgy takes on gun control, religion, cancel culture and consent.
Russell Howard: Recalibrate
Comedy · 2017
Self-deprecating comic Russell Howard plows ahead through politics, porn, social media and his own shortcomings. Yet he somehow keeps it positive.
Idiocracy
Comedy · 2006
To test its top-secret Human Hibernation Project, the Pentagon picks the most average European-Americans it can find - an Army private and a prostitute - and sends them to the year 2505 after a series of freak events. But when they arrive, they find a civilization so dumbed-down that they're the smartest people around.
Where it lives
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Armando Iannucci
Written by
Armando Iannucci · Jesse Armstrong · Simon Blackwell · Tony Roche
Peter Capaldi
Malcolm Tucker
Tom Hollander
Simon Foster
Gina McKee
Judy Molloy
James Gandolfini
Lt Gen. George Miller
Chris Addison
Toby Wright
Anna Chlumsky
Liza Weld
Paul Higgins
Jamie McDonald
Court is in session
Put In the Loop on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Cool Ironist
“The strings are showing.”
Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.