The fate of the world is on the line.
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.
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Character
Contemporary, comic, cool and epic.
- contemporarynostalgic
- gravecomic
- cooloverwhelming
- intimateepic
- classical in formformally daring
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“Is this Armando Iannucci's best work?”
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“Does the irony keep it from meaning anything?”
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“Does the pace leave no room to feel anything?”
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Reviews on TMDB
Written by TMDB members; each links to the original. Not part of Tastebuds's numbers.
- CinemaSerfon TMDB · Apr 20246/10
Peter Capaldi seems to be in his element as the foul-mouthed political aide "Tucker" in this look at just whether it's the tail that does the political wagging of the dog. He has it in for the British International Development Secretary "Foster" (Tom Hollander) who finds an off the cuff quote during a radio interview plunges him into a debate on both sides of the Atlantic about a potential war scenario. "Tucker" thinks he can just railroad his opinion through by sheer force of nature and excessive Anglo-Saxon peppered invective, but the American side of this are a bit more subtle - and "Gen. Miller" (James Gandolfini) and State Department deputy under secretary for countries beginning with the letter C - "Karen Clark" (Mimi Kennedy) take "Foster" at face value and what follows in now a quickly paced game of manipulation, duplicity and spookily ambitious interns. At times this quite potently mixes the scenarios of a "Yes, Minister" edition with the writing sharpness of the "West Wing" but for the most part I just found it all a bit too repetitious and vulgar. I think "Judy" (Gina McKee) would have been perfectly justified attacking "Tucker" with a rusty stapler and after about fifte
Read the whole review on TMDB - Peter McGinnon TMDB · Dec 20216/10
E his political satire is bursting with energy and, at times, with crackling dialogue. Hunger for power, incompetence, lack of respect for others, and betrayal are on full display. The movie had no problem keeping my interest, though it did lose my respect at times. The characters came across to me as fairly two-dimensional cardboard cutouts, and I was a little surprised to find they were exc=aptly the same way at the end. Maybe character growth is not needed in comedy, but a little more depth would have been great. I thought Gandolfini, Gina McKey and Mimi Kennedy came the closest to making their candidates real, but ultimately the script let them down. The Malcolm character was there at every turn to shout them down. The constant use of curse words reveals a lack of imagination, a lazy writer’s way of trying to titillate the audience. But when you hear the f-bomb every fifteen seconds, it loses all its shock value and exposes that lazy writing. So while the movie never lost me, it never really captured me either. I was just along for the ride.
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Cast
- Peter CapaldiMalcolm Tucker
- Tom HollanderSimon Foster
- Gina McKeeJudy Molloy
- James GandolfiniLt Gen. George Miller
- Chris AddisonToby Wright
- Anna ChlumskyLiza Weld
- Paul HigginsJamie McDonald
- Mimi KennedyKaren Clarke
- Alex MacqueenSir Jonathan Tutt
- Olivia PouletSuzy
Crew
- Armando IannucciDirector
- Armando IannucciScreenplay
- Jesse ArmstrongScreenplay
- Simon BlackwellScreenplay
- Jamie CairneyDirector of Photography
- Adem IlhanOriginal Music Composer
- Billy SneddonEditor
- Anthony BoysEditor
- Adam TandyProducer
- Kevin LoaderProducer
Where to watch
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Pairings
Companions we picked from the closest works, and how to take them.
Similar in taste
Closest on the same fourteen dimensions, from everything scored on Tastebuds Other media included when they land close.
Wag the Dog 199769% alikeBoth contemporary, cool, classical in form.
Idiocracy 200669% alikeBoth contemporary, comic, cool.
Burn After Reading 200868% alikeBoth cool, contemporary, comic; this one is more intimate.
Fyre Fraud 201967% alikeBoth contemporary, cool, classical in form.
Digger 202666% alikeBoth contemporary, comic, epic.
Dogma 199965% alikeBoth contemporary, comic, epic.
Both comic, contemporary, cool.
Serial Mom 199464% alikeBoth comic, contemporary, cool; this one is more intimate.
House of Lies 201268% alikeTelevision · Both contemporary, cool, comic.
The Brink 201567% alikeTelevision · Both contemporary, comic, epic.
Often watched with
Recommendations from TMDB. Opening one adds it to Tastebuds
