The Dictator. Rated MA15+ (strong crude humour, sexual
references and nudity). 83 minutes. Directed by Larry Charles. Screenplay by
Sacha Baron Cohen, Alec Berg, David Mandel
and Jeff Schaffer.
Verdict: This crass, patchy but good-looking affair will
only please die-hard Cohen fans.
While it would be fair to
say that Sacha Baron Cohen’s comedic creations (rapper Ali G, Borat and Brüno) are
certainly an acquired taste, there are very few highlights in this latest,
sloppy affair that veers violently from the grotesque and offensive to the only
very occasional comedic flourishes.
When the oil rich Republic
of Waadeya’s ruthless dictator Haffaz Alladeen (Baron Cohen) is summoned to the
United Nations in New York to answer the concerns about his nuclear program,
his uncle Tamir (Ben Kingsley) plots to have Alladeen tortured to death and
replaced by a double who will sign an agreement opening up the republic’s oil
fields for business.
But when Aladeen turns the
tables on his executioner (John C. Reilly), he meets Zoey (Anna Farris) who he
gradually falls in love with. Determined to outsmart his uncle and derail the
signing of the agreement that will essentially democratise his country, he
discovers Nadal (Jason Mantzoukas), the former chief of Wadiya's nuclear weapons
program, who is now living in exile in New York. Together, they hatch a plan to
infiltrate the signing ceremony and take back control of the country.
While The Dictator starts promisingly enough and ends with an inspired
punch, what makes up the rest of the long and prickly 83 minutes is patchy,
laboured and, somewhat perversely, not very funny. Instead, it rests
uncomfortably somewhere in between a forced and unlikely romantic comedy and
strident political satire – ultimately failing to make any of it as satisfying
as it might have been.
Mr Charles, who has
directed Baron Cohen in Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make
Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
and Brüno, works wonders to
keep the rambling odyssey together, while Victor Kempster’s (JFK, Natural Born Killers, Any Given Sunday) lavish production design is both spot on and the
best thing about the entire film.
This review was commissioned by the Geraldton Newspaper Group.
Wasn’t as funny as Borat, or even Bruno for that matter, but it still made me laugh a lot more than I expected to mainly because of Baron Cohen’s style of humor. He’s always so mean with his roles, but is perfect at staying in character the whole way through. Good review Geoffrey.
ReplyDeleteThanks for dropping by and commenting Dan.
ReplyDeleteI really disliked this film, and only just managed to rein in my contempt for it. It hardly had a redeeming feature for me – but I am prepared to accept that it's a matter of personal taste.