Directed by Larry Charles
Starring Sacha Baron Cohen, Anna Faris
The chameleon-like talents of actor Sacha Baron Cohen are seemingly boundless. In The Dictator, the gifted thespian branches out to portray despised despot Admiral General Aladeen, leader of the fictional North African country of Wadiya.
After the controversial figure is summoned by the UN to address concerns about his nuclear program, the general finds himself kicked to the curb and unrecognizable thanks to a beardless makeover.
As Aladeen soon discovers, hes been replaced as part of an internal double cross.
He befriends a hippie organic grocery store owner, played by Anna Faris, and hatches a plan to regain his throne.
The Dictator doesnt waste any time in keeping the plot moving; at 83 minutes the movie is exactly the length it should be for such a threadbare plot.
It also marks the third time Cohen has teamed up with director Larry Charles but, unlike Borat and Bruno, this outing takes a more conventional approach, dispensing with the mockumentary format.
What The Dictator does share with the previous two is offensive humour. Many of the jokes, thanks to Cohens brilliant timing and uncanny ability to channel his characters so well, are genuinely hilarious while others are just plain gross. Several cameos pop up, offering a few chuckles, and the supporting cast including Faris, Ben Kingsley and John C. Reilly do their best with the thin characters they are given.
The Dictator never quite lives up to all the hype but sustains enough cringe-worthy laughs to make it worth checking out.
