In the Loop

Data
Title: In the Loop
Year: 2009
Length: 106 minutes
Director: Armando Iannucci
Writers: Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci & Tony Roche, with Ian Martin
Starring: Peter Capaldi, Tom Hollander, Gina McKee, James Gandolfini, Chris Addison, Anna Chlumsky
Music: Adem Ilhan (and non-original music)
Distinctions: Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay

My reaction
Synopsis: minor politicians and their assistants deal with a possibly-impending war
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), yesterday
Concept: Indifferent. It depends what you consider the concept for this movie to be. If the concept is the plot, then it's crap. If the concept is Peter Capaldi creatively insulting everyone around him, then it's great.
Story: Bad. Structurally, it's tightly written. But it's just not an interesting story.
Characters: Great.
Dialog: Great. Oh my goodness. I'm pretty sure this is the best dialog ever put on film.
Pacing: Indifferent. It's exhausting to watch. Then again, if they'd taken any time to breathe, the world would have been robbed of that much more dialog.
Cinematography: Bad. Hand-held cameras for no apparent reason. Because The Office is popular, maybe?
Special effects/design: Great.
Acting: Great.
Music: Indifferent.
Subjective Rating: 8/10 (Great). Hilarious. But why is this screenplay nominated for an Oscar? It must be sheer volume of words. Or sheer volume of obscenities. It's kind of like in one of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy books, where there's an award for The Most Creative Use of the Word F*** in a Serious Screenplay.
Objective Rating: 2.8/4 (Good).