Sacha Baron Cohen is a comedic genius and he shows it again in his fourth feature film as lead actor, The Dictator. I haven’t laughed that much or that loud in a long time. These aren’t chuckles, they’re uncontrollable, laugh out loud, fall out of your seat laughs that you can’t hold back. This time, instead of throwing a made-up persona into the real world and filming a mockumentary-style movie (Borat, Bruno), The Dictator is a made-up movie through and through which allows Cohen to be even more crazy and push the limits farther (like in Ali G Indahouse). Even though everything is scripted, there’s still a lot of improvisations which you can see after the credits. The Dictator holds back nothing and it’s guaranteed to have at least two scenes that make you uncomfortable – no matter who you are.
Admiral General Aladeen (Sacha Baron Cohen) is the supreme leader of the Republic of Wadiya, a fictional North African country that is rich in oil. The beginning of the movie tells how he grew up without a mother and came into power at the age of 7. He has all the money he could ever want and buys whatever he feels like including gold covered cars, movie star sex, and terrorist-themed Wii games. As with most dictators, he’s developing nuclear weapons and the UN isn’t happy so he’s forced to make a speech in America or suffer from a military action. So, the bulk of the movie is Aladeen in America doing what he does best – messing with people.
The Dictator, himself, at an advance screening!
Cohen is joined by a bunch of recognizable faces and random cameos. Anna Faris, Ben Kingsley, and Jason Mantzoukas have the largest and most paramount roles in the film while Megan Fox, John C. Reilly, B.J. Novak, J.B. Smoove, Bobby Lee, and others all pop in for some screen time. Anna Faris is a “lesbian hobbit” while Kingsley is Aladeen’s right hand man that always holds his hand. All these side characters hold their own with the star and add more diversity to the racist, cruel, and sometimes disgusting jokes. If you don’t think this movie will get under your skin, think again.
One of my favorite parts of the film is the Wadiyan-remixed soundtrack where Erran Baron Cohen (Sacha Baron Cohen’s brother) re-recorded popular songs with Wadiyan lyrics (also known as gibberish). They’re hilarious and you’ll be wanting to sing along even though there’s no way you can. There are also tons of zany flashbacks and cutaways similar to Family Guy where you can hear an obvious lead in from someone and then see it play out. The movie was really well done and there wasn’t any downtime from the fun. The Dictator contained joke after joke that just kept getting funnier and more offensive. You’d think it would lose steam at some point but nobody wanted to leave once the credits rolled. Everyone just wanted more!
A parade fit for a...dictator
I can’t recommend this movie enough. If you want a comedy, this is it. This is the funniest movie in years by far and will have theaters across the country laughing uncontrollably together. There’s even a scene towards the end where Cohen takes a moment to call out America and its hypocritical ways which had half of the audience clapping along. It was actually better than most real political speeches. Supreme Leader Admiral General Aladeen is the most lovable dictator you will ever meet and really, all he wants to do is cuddle and make up more American aliases. This might be the last full-on Cohen comedy we’ll see for a while as he gets pulled into more tradition roles/movies, so enjoy it while you can. It’s definitely worth your theater money. and rental money. and DVD money. Just watch it.
Cyrus is an interesting story from the Duplass brothers about a guy down on his luck who finds the girl of his dreams. One problem, she’s really close to her only son…who’s 21 and still lives at home. Let’s back up a bit. We join John, played by John C. Reilly, as he continues to live his mundane single life after splitting with his ex-wife (Catherine Keener) seven years before. He’s still on good terms and pretty close to his ex-wife but she and her fiancé want him to get on with his own life and find somebody else. They invite him to a party which he reluctantly goes to and eventually makes an ass of himself in the process. But in the same night at the same party, he meets Molly, played by Marissa Tomei, and they hit it off right away…in a quirky way. The dialogue between them and throughout the movie is hilariously awkward. The only thing more awkward is Molly’s son Cyrus, played by Jonah Hill, and the relationship the mother and son have together.
This post is part of our SXSW Film Festival coverage
