If you’ve seen any movies with Sacha Baron Cohen in the lead, then you should probably know some of the things you’ll see if you watch The Dictator. He’s made a name for himself making these crazy R-rated comedies that can be unpredictable and raw. I imagine fans of his Borat and Bruno movies have been anticipating this ever since it was announced. However, there is a question: will they be satisfied with this one?
When North African dictator Admiral General Aladeen (Sacha Baron Cohen) is summoned to appear before the United Nations to discuss the war crimes charges against him, he and a group of his people travel to New York to do just that. While in New York, Aladeen goes to great lengths to protect her homeland of Wadiya from any and all threats that come her way.
I wasn’t really a fan of those previous two movies I mentioned above, but a comedic look at a dictator intrigues me. Based on the concept alone, it sounds like something that has the potential to be smart, controversial, and fun. Not only that, but there are also quite a few people in this movie that could help make it entertaining. So while I’m not a fan of Borat or Bruno, I actually wanted to see this movie and what it had to offer, and I went in with an open mind.
There are quite a few funny jokes in The Dictator, but none of them are great or make you laugh out loud. You knew there had to be some grotesque jokes packed into this movie and that is sure to be a selling point for many who want to see this. While I can’t speak for anyone else, most jokes in this style fail in my estimation. For me, the other jokes are much funnier and easier to get through the day. I don’t know, maybe this stuff has desensitized me over the years…or maybe the crude antics used are just too dry and fabricated on this one.
I say this because much of this is clearly done just to get a reaction. Those jokes and part of the movie lacked punch and came across as unoriginal even though some of them were really original. None of the vulgar attempts to make me laugh got a reaction from me and this was too much like his other movies. The similarities between The Dictator and Cohen’s breakout film Borat weren’t surprising, but you have to give me more than that. The whole thing of coming to America and learning the ways of life in this country is basically the same premise that we’ve seen before from these guys, but it’s wrapped in a slightly different package.
Speaking of “coming to America”, in a way, this also reminded me of the Eddie Murphy movie that was called exactly that. The main differences between the two is that Coming to America is much funnier, better in every way, and doesn’t really have much, if any, gross humor. It seems that the creators of this movie are probably fans of this Eddie Murphy movie from the 80’s. I can definitely understand that, because I am too.
As for the movie itself, The Dictator is short and doesn’t include much substance of any kind. It seems that the creators of the film are just trying to have fun with pretty much everything that is presented on screen. They even go to great lengths to mock certain policies and practices that may or may not take place among America’s elite. All of that was fine with me, but I wanted them to dig a little deeper to be completely honest.
I would have loved if The Dictator had tried to shed light on some of the other characters that are included. They had several actors who are known for their comedic abilities, but most of them are in one or two scenes at most and don’t really do anything. Giving these actors more to do and giving them more screen time probably would have given this movie the depth and substance that it lacks. Instead, we have almost every scene showing Aladeen and he never gets out of it. They don’t even talk about one of the biggest plot points outside of a cutscene. Everything else is 100% Aladeen 100% of the time.
I know some people are going to like this more than I do and a part of that is simply due to the fact that it’s full of crass attempts at comedy and there are tons of people who like that stuff. Personally, I don’t have a problem with that, but it wasn’t that great in this particular movie. If you want to see The Dictator, I wouldn’t advise you not to do it, because it’s funny in many areas. However, I wanted it to be better than it is and it never got to where I felt it needed to be. I will say that The Dictator is good enough to watch, but that’s about it. If I ever see it again, it will be on HBO or whatever network they eventually show it on.
Rating: 2.5/5
Rating: R
Director: Larry Charles
To emit:
Sasha Baron Cohen
ana faris
Ben Kingsley
Sayed Badreya
Jason Mantzoukas
John C Reilly
JB Smoove
Megan fox
Movie length: 83 minutes
Release date: May 16, 2012
Distributor: Paramount Pictures