Taking its cue from the political and social furore surrounding the current War on Terror that’s limping on in the Middle East, Armando Iannucci satire In the Loop presents a deeply funny but frankly, rather terrifying look at the build up to the conflict, starting with an accidental comment from a British cabinet minister and ending with a vote to invade Iraq.
In the press notes for Tony Scott’s garish remake of the 1974 heist classic The Taking of Pelham 123 – itself adapted from the novel by John Godey – screenwriter Brian Helgeland states that his version gets under the skin of its central characters far more than either the original film or novel. To suggest that your adaptation may be better that its source is a bold statement indeed, and it’s immediately clear that Helgeland is way overstating the achievement of the film in character development. For while Denzel Washington’s performance showcases his usual, dependable breadth of human emotion, Travolta’s characterisation is about as deep and meaningful as a box of bricks.
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