[critical] The Dictator

The dictator of a country in the Middle East is secretly replaced by a lookalike (Sacha Baron Cohen) and must rebuild his life in New York.

Author’s Note

[rating:8/10]

• Release Date : June 20, 2012

• Directed by Larry Charles

• Film american

• With Sacha Baron Cohen, Anna Faris, Ben Kingsley

• Duration : 1h23min

• Original title : The Dictator

• Trailer :

Both say now, if you are not a fan of humor, bold, heavy and irreverent, remove at least 10 points to the note that is the subject of The Dictator (but read on further to know why…).

Sacha Baron Cohen to be here for The Dictator and the director of his previous film “delusions” Borat and Brüno, Larry Charles, and his brother Erran Baron Cohen to compose music of the film (as for the other two films mentioned). The tone is downright the same : the interpreter of Borat returns in this registry enough pushed with horror debited on horrors debited from a way that is completely assumed. The humor is bold but also extremely bitter and everyone passes, the dictators, the green, passing by the democracy… We may take offence to some of the charges of “racist” from all sides but as I don’t feel qualified to answer the philosophical question “Can we laugh at everything ?”, I would like to underscore that the exercise of the parody practiced in the film is well-executed and once again the main character is more stupid than really nasty.

By the same token, we regret to see Sacha Baron Cohen has locked into this type of character when we see what he can do in other films (such as Hugo’s Cabret with Martin Scorsese), but the treatment of this film as totally scripted (in contrast to the preceding “presented” as a kind of documentary / improvisation) shows a fairly positive collaboration with director Larry Charles. Similarly, if the humor is on the same level as in Borat, for example, the film delivers a message of anti-dictatorship quite marked and parody of contemporary politicians at the exit of the Arab Spring : it is not for nothing that this film has already been banned in several countries such as Belarus or Turkmenistan.

In fact, with a style of humour in contemporary and disrespectful retained, The Dictator tends to make think to be a refresh of The Dictator (The Great Dictator) Charlie Chaplin. If you can’t prejudge, and to compare the qualities of Sacha Baron Cohen to those of the interpreter of Charlot, the similarities of the disrespect between the two films are disturbing. Similarly, the fact that they parody a threat to contemporary politics in this extreme form is fairly rare in a comedy. And the fact that they arrive with as much talent and pace in caricaturing beings paying very little laughter is all the more remarkable.

This being said, The Dictator multiplies the gags pretty beasts, but deeply funny in its attack against totalitarianism and laugh regimes also appalling, even if it is often below the belt, is very pleasant. This movie is a relaxing time of 1h24 very well marketed by a stand-up comedian british of the first order, probably not yet at the level of very great actors, but who sees his interpretation and quality of the writing is improving at a great pace until we provide here a dictator is extremely funny… and endearing.