(2009) Here is the inside story of how British intelligence (using a highly trusted source, originally known as the Iceman, later dubbed Debussy) was passed through diplomatic channels to the US State Department just prior to the vote in the UN Security Council, giving the American president sanction for an invasion of Iraq.

The key player is the foul-mouthed, manic, hostile, extremely nasty Malcolm Tucker (Peter Capaldi), the prime minister's director of communications, who treats his staff ("my little chicks and cocks") with insults and tirades. Minister of International Development Simon Foster (Tom Hollander), who manages for the most part to remain calm under fire (Tucker accuses him of being a "Nazi Julie Andrews"), sets off a firestorm by saying during a BBC interview: "I think that war is unforeseeable." Upon hearing of the comment, Tucker denies the obvious while threatening ugly repercussions: "He did not say 'unforeseeable.' You may have heard him say that, but he didn't say that."

When Toby Wright (Chris Addison), a new aide, arrives, he has news for Simon that he's been invited to attend the Foreign Office meeting with the US assistant secretary of state Karen Clark (Mimi Kennedy), an invitation which his live-in girlfriend Suzy (Olivia Poulet) has arranged. In attempting to explain what he originally misspoke, Simon then introduces another expression into the political lexicon: "Climb the mountain of conflict."

In the meeting Ms Clark (suffering with bad teeth) interprets a remark as meaning there's a secret war committee; she reads excerpts from a controversial paper (intel for and against intervention) provided by her assistant Liz Weld (Anna Chlumsky), which becomes known as PWIP-PIP. "Hanging" Chad (Zach Woods), an aide to Assistant Secretary of State Linton Barwick (David Rasche), an official who knows how "useful hypocrisy" can be, intimates that her paper has become so popular - "It's like a Harry Potter book, if Harry Potter made people really, really angry. You're in hot water, you're lobsterising. Do you smell lobster? Because I smell lobster. Strong... bisque wafting this way" - will be the end of her government career.

Confiding to Lt Gen George Miller (James Gandolfini) that she's planning to use Foster (sent to Washington, DC, along with Toby) as a "meat puppet," Karen discovers through Liz that the War Committee is euphemistically known as the Future Planning Committee; this information gets leaked to CNN. Toby goes out with Liz, whom he knew previously, while Malcolm stays up with Simon in his hotel room rehearsing saying nothing for the next day's meeting.

Opposed to an invasion, Gen Miller ("at the end of a war you need some soldiers left, really, or else it looks like you've lost") tells Karen: "This is the problem with civilians wanting to go to war. Once you've been there, once you've seen it, you never want to go again unless you absolutely fucking have to. It's like France." Simon - who when he admits to Gen Miller he's a "fake hawk" gets called a "fake idiot" - demands of Malcolm: "Show me the evidence."

Suggesting to his chief aide Judy Molloy (Gina McKee) that she put out the rumor of his possible resignation, Simon asks her and Toby, "Is the really brave thing doing what you don't believe?" The gamesmanship, petty rivalries, sarcasm, underhandedness, snide comments seem so real in director and co-writer (collaborating four others) Amando Iannucci's political farce. It's plausible events really did happen this way.

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Copyright © 2010 Patrick Ivers. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.

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