I maintain that the trailer for this movie is one of the most well put together trailers for a comedy that I have ever seen. And for that reason, I am going to embed the trailer here for you to see.
Okay, now that that is out of the way, I can begin.
I am not going to concern myself, or you readers with plot or story for very long because there is not much of one. A politician in Britain goes on a radio show and says "war is unforeseeable", but that is not the company line and he gets reamed for it, but he also gets on the radar of some people in America who are anti-war. Then there is a war committee that believes war in inevitable. What kind of war, you ask? I have no idea, but then again, the movie does not seem to know either. There is also a girl who wrote a paper about the pros and cons of war, with the cons far outweighing the pros. The movie culminates in a rush to start or stop a war, I think.
To be honest, the story/plot of this movie is what is holding it back from reaching its true potential. Once the story gets going, the movie loses steam, it loses the comic steam. For the first 30 very profane hilarious minutes, the movie crackles with wit, vulgarity and the fast paced dialogue of The West Wing. In fact, the characters in this movie might actually out talk Sam Seaborn, Josh Lyman and company. If the stuff in the trailer makes you laugh, there is a good chance that a fair number of jokes will get you. The one-liners come so fast and so furiously that if one doesn't hit, there will be another one only seconds away that will make you forget the ones that do not work.
On the forefront of it all is Peter Capaldi playing Malcolm Tucker. His performance is so hilarious and vulgar that he gives Samuel L. Jackson a run for his money on ability to make the F word count. The dude is simply brilliant in his ability to deliver line with such ferocity that you never doubt his character is capable of doing the outlandish and horrible things he threatens he can do. There is a method to his madness and I want to put down my favorite line, but be warned it is vulgar "Well, it is out there, it's out there now, lurking like a big hairy rapist at a coat station. You know, if I could, I'd punch you into paralysis!" he does not deliver it as a joke or as irony, he goes into the line with the force of a linebacker punishing a Quarterback with a late hit. He means every word that he spits out and every time he is on the screen, the movie is infinitely better.
If a movie can suffer from having a great trailer, this is that movie. The actual movie lingers for about 20 minutes too long and about half way through I was kind of bored by following what was going on. I wanted more lines like "I can't stand to see a woman bleed from the mouth. It reminds me of that Country & Western music which I cannot abide." I wanted less time focused on what was actually going on. Now, I am sure there is a lot of commentary on politics and media overseas in this movie. I am sure the whole constituent wall plotline has relevance somewhere, but I just did not care. Steve Coogan's cameo made me sit up for a few seconds, but after a minute or so, I was just waiting for more rapid fire lines, vulgar put downs and pop culture references.
There is a really nice sight gag featuring James Gandolfini, in his full on military outfit, sitting on a child's bed typing out the numbers of troops into a child's calculator with all the sounds that come along with a child's toy, but for the most part any of the comedy that comes from any place other than the dialogue and how it is delivered, fails. In the end, I am glad I went and saw the movie because the first 30-40 minutes offers such amazing laughs that it would have been a shame to miss them. If the trailer does nothing for you, or if you think vulgarity is offensive and unfunny, stay away, and if you decide to see it, just know that it may fall short of the potential you saw in it.
Final Grade: C+
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