THE DICTATOR (MA)
Release: On general release
Review: Kathryn Kernohan
SACHA Baron Cohen has never been one to make safe films – in fact the British writer, actor and comedian seems to measure his success by the number of people he can offend.
A decade ago, he took his gangsta rap wannabe, Ali G, to the Houses of Parliament in Ali G Indahouse. Four years later he was threatened with legal action and criticised by the government of Kazakhstan after producing top-grossing film Borat (which was banned by several countries) and he got the fashion world in a spin with 2009’s Bruno.
In his latest film, Baron Cohen eschews the mockumentary style of Borat and Bruno for his first straight narrative film in a decade. But that doesn’t mean The Dictator straddles the boundaries of good taste and political correctness any less.
Baron Cohen plays Admiral General Aladeen, the racist, sexist and utterly appalling dictator of fictitious north African country Wadiya. When summoned to appear before the UN in New York to respond to allegations he is building nuclear weapons, his right-hand man Tamir (Sir Ben Kingsley) has other ideas. Tamir wants Aladeen gone so he can sell the country’s oil interests, so he arranges for the dictator’s trademark beard to be removed and replaces him with a lookalike who will happily sign a new constitution declaring Wadiya a democracy.
This leaves the real Aladeen stripped of his money and power and forced to fend for himself in big, bad New York. Calling himself Alison Burgers, he is taken under the wing of organic grocery store owner Zoey (Anna Faris), with whom a relationship blossoms. All the while, Aladeen and his former rocket expert, Nadal (Jason Mantzoukas), begin plotting to bring down Tamir and reclaim control of Wadiya.
The film boasts some very funny gags (a scene with Aladeen and Nadal on a helicopter flight with two American tourists is some of Baron Cohen’s best work) and some that induce audible gasps from the audience; such as a fictional Wii game with levels including ‘‘Munich Olympics’’ and ‘‘London Underground bombings’’.
A heartfelt political speech towards the end gives the film some credence, but all too often Baron Cohen falls back onto schoolboy gross-out humour when he has plenty of biting material to work with.
The Dictator is a good comedy, but not a great one. For those tiring of Baron Cohen’s character-based shtick, his next movie could be his biggest risk yet – the comedian will play Freddie Mercury in the highly anticipated Queen biopic, Mercury.
