The Dictator

Logline: The heroic story of a dictator who risks his life to ensure that democracy would never come to the country he so lovingly oppressed.

Cast: Sacha Baron Cohen, Anna Farris, Ben Kingsley,

Directed by: Larry Charles

I kind of trashed Expendables 2 yesterday without seeing it and now I'm reviewing The Dictator after saying that I'm biased with my moving picking. I guess I contradicted myself, but in my defense I didn't pay $10 or waste any gas going to see this in theatres. I think I was a bit too harsh on E2 though, I will see & review it eventually. Maybe a Throwback Thursday + Friday back to back type thing like Piranha 3D.

Summary

Admiral General Shabazz Aladeen refuses to allow Wadiyan oil to be sold internationally and is working on developing and is working on building a nuclear weapon (straight from Wikipedia). He enjoys the finer things in life like sleeping with every American celebrity possible, doing whatever he wants without the constraints of democracy, and executing people that annoy him/get in his way. 

During a visit on American soil, Aladeen is kidnapped by an American hitman who shaves off his beard and attempts to kill him. Narrowly escaping his death, he kills the hitman and returns to his people only to find out that his right hand man set up this kidnapping and has replaced him with a body double. They did this because they want to employ democracy in Wadiya.

This is the story of how Aladeen becomes a normal person in American culture and his attempt to return to power.

Review

This is a movie in which opinions were bound to be split down the middle.

Sacha Baron Cohen is known for his exuberant roles in The Ali G Show, Borat, and Bruno. Everyone knows what they are getting themselves into when they turn on one of his acts. The Dictator is pretty much the same kind of humor, but has a little bit less of a punch to it. Borat hates Jewish people, Bruno is openly gay and tries to seduce Ron Paul into making a sex tape, and Aladeen... wants to make nukes/thinks women are inferior? I don't know, it just seemed a bit off from his past films that were extremely offensive. Don't get me wrong, this one is offensive too (he plays a videogame re-enactment of the Olympic games at Munich), but not as much is all I'm saying. And I think the film won't be as memorable for that reason.

I'm sure that some will still find it hilarious. I found myself laughing out loud a few times. As far as story goes it's alright. There's a sense of urgency because a document is going to be signed on a certain date and that sets the pace well; even though Aladeen is an anti-hero it can keep an audience interested in regards to the outcome.

Topic of the Day

Going to keep it rather short today.

Sacha Baron Cohen has made a name for himself. This can be both good and bad. The Dictator has made $167 million dollars off a budget of $65 million. This is mainly due to the past successes of Borat and Bruno. That's the good. The bad is that people have their expectation levels set very high. Often times comedians that star in movies fade away after multiple successes. This is mainly because they got old and so does their comedy. Take a look at Jim Carrey, Adam Sandler, Jack Black, etc. Not sure if Black belongs on that list, but he fits the description of my point. When I watched The Dictator I was expecting something very similar to Bruno and Borat, but what I got was very different. Often times comedic actors enjoy a stretch of success and then fall off. Some still make money, but they're never the same as they used to be. Let's just hope Cohen doesn't take that route, even though it seems almost inevitable.

Consensus

The Dictator doesn't live up to Sacha Baron Cohen's pre-set standard from his prior feature films. Although it could provide humor to some and the story isn't bad per say, everything about this film screams for my first mediocre.

5/10