The Dictator is one of those rare instances where a film can be so offensive that it’s impossible to like the main character. Sacha Baron Cohen portrays the fictional dictator, General Aladeen, who is the leader of a country called Wadiya. He is ruthless in the same way Kim Jong Il was cruel to the people of North Korea.
General Aladeen is called to the United Nations (UN) to address concerns that Wadiya may be developing nuclear weapons. During his trip to the United States, an attempt is made on General Aladeen’s life because his adviser Tahir (Sir Ben Kingsley) wants to take over Wadiya.
As a result of this assassination attempt, General Aladeen’s beard is shaved off, rendering him unrecognizable to people of the United States and the UN. He is forced to interact with all of the people and things he has been against his whole life in order to get back into the UN and confirm that he has nuclear weapons and wants the country of Wadiya to continue as a dictatorship.
I strongly dislike The Dictator. It is offensive in so many ways that it can be hard to watch. I love that Sacha Baron Cohen has comedy that can be frank and honest, but this was too much. I know how to take a joke but, in this film, almost every joke he uses feels old and played out.
I found the character Zoey (Anna Faris), Aladeen’s love interest, to be a complete waste of time. Frankly, Zoey has no reason to like Aladeen. She spends the majority of the film reprimanding him for the numerous ways he insults her and the other people with whom he interacts. Aladeen doesn’t really even begin to change the way he treats people when the third act reaches its climax. The only thing that matters to Aladeen is continuing his reign of terror and that is not enough for me to consider this comedy funny.
The one scene I did enjoy in The Dictator is its last five minutes. In those five minutes, Aladeen makes a speech addressing the UN that highlights all of the faults of the United States. He outlines the problems with our politics, the way we treat people, and how destroyed our financial system is. It’s hilarious because he does all of this without directly saying that these are issues that the U.S. fails to deal with. I found myself wishing that the film had more moments like these.
Sacha Baron Cohen reminds me of a younger and more crude version of Peter Sellers. His characters are always naive and clueless, but never lovable. If Cohen could make a lovably offensive character that has a journey, then I’d be completely on board. But his scripted style of offensive humor, where all the jokes are planned and the humor is too harsh, has soured my opinion of this comedian and his antics.
One Star.
This film can be seen at Camike’s Beverly Theater and the Savoy 16.