MOVIE REVIEW
In the Loop (2009)
IFC Films
Armando Iannucci is one of the most successful satirists in contemporary British television, a revered writer-director whose influential news spoofs "On the Hour" and "The Day Today" launched the careers of Steve Coogan, Chris Morris and playwright Patrick Marber in the 1990s. Because of Britain’s lamentable record of translating its TV heroes into cinematic damaged-goods, the arrival of "In the Loop" has been greeted with some understandable trepidation in Britain, borne out of the fear that only the curse of the "British comedy film" can bring down a reputation as unblemished as Mr. Iannucci’s.