The Dictator

Ah Sacha Baron Cohen...maker of extremely offensive movies and very memorable characters. First you give us the super-racist-anti-semite, Borat. Then you deliver the over-the-top-gay and disgusting, Bruno. 


Now, in your first live action flick (the other two were supposedly candid camera films in the sense that no one but Cohen knew what was going on) you present us with the exaggerated portrayal of a Middle Eastern dictator, General Aladeen. 


So is The Dictator a successful adventure for Cohen? 


Well it is certainly still highly offensive much like his other films. Everyone will be offended: Asians, African Americans, Arabs, Americans, Caucasians, women, homosexuals, Republicans, Liberals, women, oh and  women. 


But ultimately the whole movie falls short of the greatness that we are used to coming from this guy. I consider Borat and Bruno to be some genre classics when it comes to boundary-pushing comedy. Mind you, they are over quoted to death and in my opinion, overrated. But they are still absolutely hilarious at times. The Dictator, while still pretty funny, doesnt really ever approach the level of comedy of either of his previous outings. 

Megan Fox making fun of herself in a pretty decent cameo

I think the main issue with The Dictator is two things. First, I still have an Avengers hangover which tends to happen when I see a movie that I instantly fall in love with...all other movies seem to disappoint me for quite some time (my Inception hangover was a pretty long one). But what I noticed is that The Dictator is based more on one liners and running jokes, similar to any other comedy in Hollywood. In Borat and Bruno, the comedy came from the situations that Cohen put unsuspecting strangers in. The biggest laughs came from him playing his characters in a sea of people that truly believed this person was real. Cohen's strength is portraying a character so strongly and dedicated that people actually believe that this caricature of a person is real. The Dictator doesnt have that factor in it, and thus Cohen loses a bit of his specialty. General Aladeen is still a funny and unique character but he will never be quoted as much as Borat or mimicked as much as Bruno, but then again those are pretty big shoes to fill. 

Anna Faris really does look like a boy in this picture...

With that being said, The Dictator really does have some genuinely funny parts in it. Probably the funniest part of the film is when Aladeen realizes that he can...ahem... masturbate ("What sorcery is this?"). The ensuing montage of "orgasmic" scenes that ensue are hilarious, including one of Blake Griffin dunking, all set to the tune of "A Moment Like This". Pretty funny stuff. And the rest of the movie has some really funny pieces as well, but unfortunately, Cohen pretty much showed all of the cards he has to play in the previews and trailers. Had I never seen a preview for this movie, it would have been significantly funnier.

The biggest running gag in the movie:
 General Aladeen executing everyone

I think that anyone who has seen Cohen's previous efforts will appreciate The Dictator and get some genuine laughs from it. But I can almost guarantee you that you will be disappointed if you set your expectations high. As for everyone else? If you are easily offended, then tread with caution. If you are a woman that is easily offended then stay far, far away. 


It's an entertaining one-time view, but not much more. 


Hopefully General Aladeen doesn't execute me for that...


Pros:

• General Aladeen is a funny character and the whole notion of him being a menacing dictator is funny in this day and age
• Some genuinely funny scenes and lines
• The soundtrack is American music sung in Arabic (or at least I think it is). It's pretty comedic at times

Cons:

• The funniest parts (except for one) were in the previews. Had this been the first time I was seeing them, they would have been hilarious
• The plot is forgetful and the "love story" is useless
• Not as funny as I had hoped. I had my expectations set pretty modestly and I was disappointed
• One-time view is plenty for me
• Some jokes border on distasteful...but then again what did I expect?

Rath's Review Score: 6/10

Wanna know what the funniest part of The Dictator was? It was a certain trailer that premiered before the movie even started. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, one of my most highly anticipated movies of all time, Anchorman The Legend Continues

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