The Dictator

Reviewed by Danny the Demented
Updated July 2 2012

A comedy that lacks class, sense, and most importantly, humor. Pray tell, is there a sadder sight?

"The Dictator" is a comedy about the life of General Hafez Aladeen (Sacha Baron Cohen), a North African dictator from the Republic of Wadiya. He is evil, self-centered, cruel, silly, and rules his country like a turd sandwich. His uncle Tamir (Ben Kingsley) plots to unseat him by hiring a hitman (John C Reilly) to kill the general during their trip to the US. Of course, the plan failed and now Aladeen needs to find a way to return back to power, win the love of an environmentalist/feminist/activist/grocery store manager named Zoey (Anna Faris), stop some evil oil companies and shit on democracy before it is all too late. Oh and FYI, this plot summary is funnier than the actual film. Booya.

This movie sucked, what more is there to say? The plot is incredibly stupid, the acting from everyone is horrible (sadly that includes you too Sir Kingsley, why on earth did you take this role? You were the sexy beast Logan for crying out loud arrrrrrrrgh! What are you doing to yourself!!) no direction to speak of as the movie moves at a bizarre pace with no noticeable rhythm, and the engine that powers this train-wreck is Sacha Baron Cohen's "sense of humor", which is not really humor at all. What does make this film unique is that this is the first attempt by Cohen to do a scripted comedy. All three of his previous feature films with him as the leading man (Ali G Indahouse, Borat, Brüno) adopted a mocumentary approach, with Cohen in character and going into unscripted situation with non-actors. "The Dictator" took a more traditional comedic route, having written lines with trained actors and sets designed for specific effects. Perhaps due to the lack of experience, the film crashed and burned in disastrous fashion. Mr Cohen, perhaps you should leave comedy alone and go back to doing pranks. That's right, you just got served.

A note on Cohen: the general masses have been very generous in regarding Cohen as a comedian ever since he became famous with his three most recognizable characters: The wannabe rapper Ali G, the gay Austrian fashion guru Bruno, and the Kazakhstani reporter Borat. However, to call Cohen a comedian is a misconception (This is why I am the pro and you are not, the more you know ). Cohen's so-called "comedy" requires no thinking, no structure, no punchline, no writing, and no essence. What he does is pranks. There's a big difference between comedyand prank. Would you call Ashton Kutcher a comedian? The answer to that riddle is no. Even though some may find his infamous "Punk'd" funny, that show is about pranks rather than comedy. Cohen does almost the exact same thing. All three of his characters are pranksters, they go into certain situation and prey on their unknowing counter-parties, acting a fool and pretending to not know of any social norms that allow decent people to be decent. That is not comedy. A prank is a prank, nothing more. Ricky Gervais is a comedian, Louis C.K. is a comedian, Chris Rock is a comedian, Sacha Baron Cohen is not. He's got gigantic balls to do the sh*t he does, but it requires essentially no comedic structuring. He is a courageous prankster, and should be referred to as such. 

 

A humongous waste of time, "The Dictator” failed on all counts. But look on the bright side, at least it isn't Tree of Life (no I am not letting this one go Pitt, can't fool me, sexy though you are. Wait whhhha? ) . My name is Danny and I endorse this message.