You don’t need to have seen Armando Ianucci’s brilliant political Britcom The Thick of It to appreciate this big-screen version of his beloved TV show. (Though we strongly recommend that you go buy an all-region DVD player, visit Amazon U.K. and order the program’s first season and specials stat—just for your own viewing pleasure. You may thank us later.) Sure, the film features Thick’s rancorous, ribald spin doctor, Malcolm Tucker, played by the motormouthed actor Peter Capaldi. But anyone going into this comedy cold won’t feel lost; frankly, viewers who don’t even possess a working knowledge of parliamentary procedures or the resident at No. 10 Downing Street (google it and find out) will be able to catch on quickly. Some ideas translate without loss across the pond…like, say, the notion that political institutions are rife with greedy, petty, status-obsessed idiots, regardless of whether they are located in Britain or the Beltway. And, of course, a well-turned insult always works wonderfully; a cursory list of the movie’s eloquently offensive put-downs would include “Horse of the Year,” “the baby from Eraserhead,” “a Nazi Julie Andrews” and several references to a large mammal’s well-oiled genitalia. Ianucci’s frenzied satire about how a low-level minister’s offhanded remark virtually underwrites a Middle East invasion isn’t perfect, but it is, pound for pound, the funniest and most quotable movie you’re likely to see all year. In the Loop screens tonight and tomorrow, and will open in July. Genius.