The Dictator

The Dictator

This film is a comedic look at serious topics such as communism, feminism, racism,  and other ethical problems of today's society.  "The Dictator" (Larry Charles, 2012)  stars  Sacha Baron Cohen as  the leading character "Aladeen,"  dictator of Wadiya and  Anna Faris as "Zoey,"  an American idealist. This is a film that would entertain people with a worldly view and understanding of proper behavior. Closed-minded individuals would probably not "get" the sense of humor of "The Dictator."

The Helicopter Ride

So, basically, the story has a dictator that would normally be the antagonist in any other film become the hero and makes the viewer root for him to succeed in saving his dictatorship to avoid  the country's democratic constitution's passing and allowing a greedy conspirator Tamir (Ben Kingsley) to sell oil rights to the "Big 3" executives. It's a comical look at the what-ifs in the Osama Bin Laden instance; it pokes fun at America's values and ethics. The funniest to me was the helicopter scene, where Aladeen and Nadal (Jason Mantzoukas) are talking in their own language about New York's tourist attractions (Statue of Liberty and fireworks) and reference a prior conversation about Bin Laden being a freeloading houseguest after his body double was killed. Do you see where this is headed? The older couple only understand certain words and combine gestures--it's crazy! (Statue of Liberty+mimic of fireworks explosion+Bin Laden=terrorist, right?) Aladeen's goat-loving body double is acting on the conspirator's behalf and his stupidity is comic relief throughout the film. He orders anyone who he perceives as disagreeing with him to be executed but finds out in America none were actually killed--they all live in NY with a common hatred of him. He meets an American woman, Zoey, who he compares to a boy physically, laughs at her hairy armpits, yet ends up being rescued by her many times. She teaches him that most of his stereotypes and prejudices have been wrong in her own naive way. I won't spoil the ending, but know that you will feel torn near the end of the film whether to root for his failure or success: the lesser of two evils, I suppose.

Zoey gets Aladeen  from the police station

The characters were hilarious, even when they were wrong. They are so dysfunctional that you have to laugh at their prejudices because they don't know any better. Zoey is an extremist to NOT having prejudices to the point that she doesn't show proper leadership in managing her business. The non-speaking characters, such as the women guards, are like the Austin Powers women guards in their portrayal. Even the scientist creating the nuclear missile falls into a comedic stance by arguing with Aladeen whether the tip of the missile  should be round or pointed.

Bright colors and lighting, fake beards, and a corpse head used as a prank all help to keep the comedic feel of the film. The music even was hilarious: one part had a long introduction of a familiar Snoop Dogg song and as soon as I bobbed my head the words came on and were Middle Eastern sounding rather than English! (Rather than the "D-O-double G" it was "the Aladeen".) I noticed several times the soundtrack was used to keep the laughs rolling. Within the plot, the dictator was made lovable because none of the people he ordered to be executed were dead. Otherwise it would have been harder to get the audience to sympathize with him.

Female Soldiers

Once again, I would say that only certain people will understand the humor in this film. Honestly, "Family Guy" fans will love it. The people who are being placed in the spotlight of the film, like stereotyping racists and those who believe girl babies should be thrown in the garbage will probably not like the film. Oh, and if you have a problem with sexual humor this is not the film for you either. Otherwise, you will fall out laughing while watching this film.