The Dictator - Review

With some insanely clever jokes and plenty to offend members of every race, religion, and minority, The Dictator may certainly not be for the faint of heart. However, if you’re willing to give it a chance, there are big laughs and too many outrageous skits to count.

The Dictator tells the story of Aladeen, the ruler of the republic of Wadiya. When negotiations start with the U.N. regarding problems with his nuclear program, he must travel to America to sort out his issues. To spoil anything more would take away from some of the shock value, I think.

Like Borat and Bruno before it, The Dictator is host to highly intelligent humor and some jokes that may go over people’s heads. It is certainly offensive, that’s for sure. While the other two movies were mostly unscripted faux-documentaries, Dictator goes more for the SNL-skit route, being scripted with zero documentary aspect to it. This works well for the film on many levels, especially in the last half, which would have been nearly impossible to achieve through another approach.

The plot might be thinly laid out, but what leads from point A to B is always funny. I enjoyed the moronic antics of Aladeen’s body double, also played by Cohen. Also, seeing the majority of Aladeen’s antics while working in the organic grocery store (none of which will be spoiled in this review) works so well, delivering most of the movie’s big big laughs. Even some throwaway dialogue that is so quick you might miss it (“Have you seen my movies? You’ve Got Mailbomb?”) is hilarious. I expected nothing less, Mr. Cohen.

As usual, Sacha Baron Cohen delivers in every imaginable way. In the writing department, this is undeniably a well-scripted political satire, and acting-wise, Cohen steals every scene as Aladeen. Whether it’s complaining about the price of internet in a hotel or shamelessly comparing women attending school to monkeys on roller-skates, Aladeen is hysterically over-the-top. His speech at the ending comparing a democracy in America to a dictatorship is bitingly funny and epic. So many lines of dialogue are so quotable that I’m mostly certain what summer comedy everyone is going to be raving about.

I also loved Anna Faris, who lays it all on the floor with her all-natural character Zoey. Any actress that willingly participates in a scene getting her hairy armpits licked without cracking up has got to earn some kind of award in my book. Until Scary Movie 5 rolls around, this is definitely the funniest thing to tide over fans of Faris. The smaller bits here which are mostly cameo roles (Megan Fox, Edward Norton, John C. Reilly) are all quite funny too.

If comedies are your thing, then The Dictator simply does not disappoint. I think Bruno is still my favorite Cohen project, but there isn’t even a way anything could top the sheer ridiculousness of that flick. If envisioning a scene where Aladeen is trying to help deliver a baby on the floor of a store (and loses his phone inside the woman’s vagina, still trying to speak to the person on the phone) gives you the slightest bit of chuckles, then you cannot miss The Dictator. / Rating: A-