First Hit: Although this parody is funny, and provides an interesting look at how things might get done in Government, it is a little long winded and seems to lose the point here and there.
Washington and 10 Downing Street leaders are on their way to have a war. Although it is a very minor character in this film, the unnamed war is referring to our most recent Iraq endeavor.
The film’s major characters are Simon Foster (played by Tom Hollander) a British Assistant Secretary of State, Malcolm Tucker (played by Peter Capaldi) as the British Communications Director, Karen Clarke (played by Mimi Kennedy) an American undersecretary, Lt. General George Miller (played by James Gandolfini) as a pacifist general, and a slew of other actors playing the conniving and sometimes pathetic assistants to the British and American politicos.
The feeling in the film is that brash behavior is the norm as no one seems too upset that Tucker says “fuck” or “fuckin'” at least 50 times, or in every other sentence, as he bad mouths everyone he meets and greets. However, this arrogance is somewhat mitigated when speaking to Americans as the British come off as a younger brother wanting to look tough instead of the leader of the pack.
Then there is the American Clarke whose mouth bleeds in stressful or unexpected situations which makes her lose her perceived power as a player. The cadre of assistants have some of the most interesting roles and dialog in the film as they position themselves and their bosses towards a decision about the pending decision about the war.
They move the plot regarding the decision about war forward so that it is a mere formality when the US and Britain decide to invade the unnamed middle eastern country with no truth based premise.
I found the acting good for the most part. What wore on me was the constant ego pumping, dissing and dismissing of others by politicos for the sake of pumping up their own egos. Whether this reflects some truth or not, I thought scenes were created to add more opportunities to create absurd dialog but added little to the story. I got tired of the tirade and because the outcome is known, I found myself waiting for the film to get there.
Overall: This film was a good parody and at times brilliant. However, there were too many scenes which I found the dialog pathetically overdone and unfathomable.