The Thick of It has, for a little while now, been the gem that I could pull out when breaking into the recommendations competition with fellow lovers of British comedy. While I'll admit that I'm a little sad to lose the series into 'mainstream' there are also a few other points that didn't sit right with me.
I really enjoyed the film, I want to say that before any criticism - it's great, it's very funny, it's just not the TV series.
Perhaps the most frustrating thing for me was the disappearance of most of the characters we'd known from the series. We lost the minister when the Christmas specials came around so I was fine with that, just as I was very pleased indeed to see the brilliant Peter Capaldi return as foul-mouthed spinman Malcolm Tucker. What I think irked me was the retention of Chris Addison and other supporting cast from the series, but as different characters. It disrupted my ability and willingness to delve into the world of the movie when the same actors were interacting but with only one playing the same character they had in the past.
Audiences (if they're anything like me anyway) may have some trouble figuring out where the plot is headed as the film takes some time to get going. Once it does though we're in familiar territory watching the political wheelings and dealings, this time on a global scale.
Hesitantly I'll also level the complaint the the film "sold out" a little (and I do mean a little) and lost it's niche edge to cater for the mass audience a movie must. Inevitable I suppose. And yes it was a little more American than a good British comedy should have been.
In The Loop was a good film and I would certainly not turn people away from watching it. I enjoyed the whole thing, albeit with certain pangs of loss from the series.
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3 1/2 Stars
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