The Dictator

This week's film was selected to be reviewed because of two reasons. Firstly, Friday came along and I suddenly realised that I hadn't written a review this week and that many people would be angry (or, indeed, thankful) that I hadn't done so. And secondly, because a friend of mine wanted to hear my verdict on a film which he saw and was “the only person laughing loads in the cinema”. Had it not been for these two reasons, I would have skipped my weekly trip to the cinema and instead enjoyed the week of good weather (better known as the British Summer). But was I glad to have gone?

In the same vein as Borat and Bruno, Baron Cohen has created a larger-than-life character in the form of Admiral General Aladeen, a dictator who 'lovingly oppresses' the people of the fictional country of Wadiya. On a trip to New York to address the UN, Aladeen is replaced by an imposter and finds himself working in a feminist eco food shop whilst plotting to regain power and prevent democracy from reaching the people of Wadiya. We can begin by saying that The Dictator is largely-unfunny and I could tell you the number of times I laughed (always a bad sign): four. To be fair, touches such as Aladeen's all-female 'Virgin Bodyguards' did hint at the sharp mind of Baron Cohen which first came to the fore in Borat and references to past dictators and current politicians did raise a smile. Whilst there were one or two clever gags and interesting ideas, too often did the humour fall back on the lowest common denominator as if Baron Cohen and his fellow script writers believed that this was a solid foundation for further humour. In reality, the effect was that of a film which seemed to have drive, but ran out of steam and went for gags about feminism which were – dare I say it – rather out-dated and boring.

The Dictator has the potential to be hugely offensive – perhaps highlighted by a scene in which Aladeen plays a Wii computer game, the aim of which is to burst into the Israeli Olympic team's changing rooms and gun-down athletes – and, save for a speech at the end of the film, there was far less satirical bite than I wanted. This lack of laughs made the whole film seem rather tiresome and superficial; fine, the material may have worked during a 10pm slot on Channel 4 but in a cinematic context, it didn't quite work. It was rather like reading War and Peace from the back of a cornflake packet: the two didn't go together.

Cohen is naturally a physical performer and can certainly carry-off a multitude of different characters (his recent supporting role in Hugo is a notable example) but even this couldn't detract from a script riddled with humour which was either recycled or in far too bad taste to be remotely amusing. I realise that I will probably be in the minority but there we go - I don't have a sense of humour.

The Dictator is a largely-unfunny, flat and somewhat disappointing film that seems to favour crude humour over any real sense of satire or comic depth. Whilst Cohen is engaging enough in the part as the odd dictator, the film is overwhelming forgettable and ends up drowning in a sea of vulgarity. Perfect, then, for my friend. 

Clapperboard Review: * *