The Dictator (Larry Charles)

[eternity]

The Dictator
Director: Larry Charles
Starring: Sacha Baron Cohen, Anna Faris, Ben Kingsley
Release Date: May 16, 2012

imdb

[eternity]

I saw this a few months back but signed an NDA. Since it screened at CinemaCon, it's fair game.

It's funny. Not particularly good, but it's funny.

[Henry Gale]

This is the sort of comedy that would completely fall apart if it wasn't as funny as it is. Structurally and story-wise, it's pretty flimsy, and General Aladeen is a considerably weaker character than Cohen's three staples from Da Ali G Show (if you want to compare them in the same way), but somehow it all still worked for me.

It has the vibe of a big studio comedy from the '80s or '90s, that is at least before the jokes kick in and it becomes apparent that the territory of the humour is considerably darker and grosser than any possible examples a comparison like that may bring to mind. Not every sequence completely gels comedically, but the hits outweigh the misses, and the movie has a fast enough pace with the gags that it moves on from the stuff that doesn't work in its favour just as quickly as the sort of stuff that got a big reaction from me.

It's also really obviously a case of so many recent comedies where they just shot a million different scenes and ADR'd endless alternate dialogue / punchlines, and this was what they felt was the best version everyone involved could agree on, but it's so much so that it even feels like the plotting was significantly changed along the way. I mean, the two outtakes we see in the credits are from scenes not in the actual movie, and half of the material in the trailers are nowhere to be found either.

The cast is the oddest thing about it, while also maybe its secret weapon. It's almost as if every comic actor working today said they'd do anything in the movie, or Larry Charles and Cohen wanted every little role to be filled with extremely capable comedians. People like Chris Elliot, JB Smoove and Aasif Mandvi show up for what are essentially walk-on roles, and even John C. Reilly's role only last for a couple of scenes. Also, Ben Kingsley, despite having a lot more screen time, ends up being kind of wasted. Not that he didn't seem game for whatever the movie asked of him, but there just didn't end up being much for him to really do in the final cut. But Jason Mantzoukas (who some of you probably know from Paul Scheer's How Did This Get Made? podcast), is kind of the standout. The scenes where he plays off of Aladeen are probably the scenes where Cohen brings the most out of his own character too.

So it's about Bruno-level laughs done in the straightforward narrative format of Ali G Indahouse (though considerably better than the latter). That should probably tell you whether or not you'd like it.

*** / ****

[MadMan]

This looks funnier and better than Bruno. I doubt he'll ever top Borat, though.

[Henry Gale]

I actually like Bruno quite a bit, but I haven't seen it since theatres, where a lot of my enjoyment may have come from never seeing and hearing so many people (in an audience) hilariously distraught and confronted with their own homophobia, almost as if they walked into the wrong movie. Sure its satire is a little less on point, and some of the real-life interactions feel a bit more forced, but it kind of works with who he is as a character, never quite knowing what his own point is or where to draw the line.

And c'mon, how many other movies can you name that have a dick hole scream at the camera?

[Mal]

This is a funny movie. The speech... great stuff.

[Dukefrukem]

This is a funny movie. The speech... great stuff.

At the end? Yeh that was funny. I also enjoyed the highly advertised helicopter flight and birth scene. I giggled a lot through this and it was exactly what I was expecting it to be. Pushing the limits on some jokes, being goofy and Naked Gunish on others. Definitely better than Bruno, but not close to Borat.

[Dukefrukem]

I also really liked the soundtrack. American songs reproduced Arabic?

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[EyesWideOpen]

I thought this had it's moments but nowhere near as funny or Borat or Bruno.

[Grouchy]

Heh, this didn't disappoint. The final speech was just fucking delicious irony. I'm guessing it flies over the head of some of the audience, too, so that it works in various levels.

Only thing I could criticize about it is that there doesn't seem to be much of a point in making Ben Kingsley the antagonist if he's going to play a role anyone could do. Anna Faris was perfect, though.

[Spinal]

I'm surprised to see so many favorable ratings for this one. It has a few good jokes, but mostly it's a tedious, scattershot effort. The climactic speech is a rare moment where the satire is actually on target and has some bite. I also liked the running gag about the dictator's pseudonyms. Pot shots at radical feminists with hairy armpits ... yawn. My biggest problem with the film is that it doesn't spend enough time establishing its central character before stripping him of his identity and placing him in the 'fish out of water' scenario. It's hard to appreciate the switch-up when we know so little about the character.

[Gizmo]

Funny, but not all that interesting. Probably in part to Spinal's last comment.

[Peng]

"When the thought of someones decapitated head upsets you, that is love."

SBC makes the scattershot material watchable enough, but it's Anna Faris (making the most out of thankless-on-paper role by sheer presence) and Kathryn Hahn (stealing the film with just one hysterical appearance) who impress me. 6/10