IN THE LOOP

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Meticulously crafted from its BBC television source series, "The Thick of It," "In the Loop" is the funniest and smartest political comedy to come along in ages.

With an unusually clever cast, director Armando Iannucci delivers nonstop punch-and-tickle humor from Britain's corridors of power to the D.C. beltway where the rollicking movie hits its stride.

Britain's Minister of International Development Simon Foster (Tom Hollander) fumbles with mixed metaphors during a radio interview, and hints that Iraq war plans might be on the Prime Minister's agenda. Simon's dimwitted radio performance sends Malcolm Tucker (Peter Capaldi), the Prime Minister's Director of Communications, into a spree of hilarious vulgarity spewing recriminations aimed at Simon and anyone within a twenty-five yard proximity.

Simon, Malcolm, and newbie political adviser Toby (Chris Addison), head to D.C. to participate in slapdash caucus proceedings administered with a fourth grade level of strategy and execution.

"In the Loop" works exceptionally well as a modern day political comedy because it doesn't get bogged down in specifics that might be construed as carrying any kind of agenda or partisan message.

The wonks that make British and American politics run are shown as little more than young adult brats, or middle-aged adult brats engaged in an ongoing pissing contest that will eventually be dumped on unsuspecting citizens of every community in the world.

It just goes to show that politicians hate each other just as much as their citizenry hates them.

Oh, and they hate you too.

Rated PG-13. 105 mins.