The Dictator: Pointy Not Round

Paramount Pictures

Official Site: www.republicofwadiya.com
Director(s): Larry Charles
Writer(s):  Sacha Baron Cohen, Alec Berg
Producer(s):  Sacha Baron Cohen, Alec Berg
Starring:  Sacha Baron Cohen, Anna Faris, Ben Kingsley, John C. Reilly, B.J. Novak. Rated-R. 

Can a ruthless dictator fall in love with a vegan human rights activist? An unlikely couple indeed.  Aladeen ( Cohen) did not travel to New York to fall in love, but who could resist a cute vegan who cares about everything from animals to a dictator's masturbatory habits. I  don't think  Cohen was trying to say dictators have feelings too, but inadvertently  he sort of made that point. Aladeen noticed how much passion Zoey ( Faris) had. He could not stop talking about  her even when he was planning to regain his position as dictator of Wadiya. Living  as a commoner,  Aladeen noticed certain things about himself.  He realized he was actually a nice guy beneath the inclination to kill everyone who had different views.

Paramount Pictures

Satirical as can be, Cohen employs his trademark crude humor to make a statement about dictatorships while entertaining the masses. Irreverence with a purpose as usual. There is also commentary on democracy, but not just any democracy; democracy defined by corporate policy, noted in a scene where Tamir(Kingsley) cut a backdoor deal with several major oil companies for millions. The film eludes to problems with the U.S prison population, and bank bailouts amongst other issues. Definitely.Cohen wrote a comedy with substance.

Paramount Pictures

Was The Dictator funny ? Kind of. It was not hilarious. But it was deeply amusing. May be it's because I have grown accustomed to Cohen's comedic style, and the effects from the days of Borat, and Bruno have worn off, and I have become desensitized to the shocking antics. Still  the things this guy gets away with, like kicking a kid on screen, and rubbing sperm on a woman's face. Only Cohen. It was not great. It was not disappointing. It was simply entertaining. Metacritic.com rated the film 58/100 for mixed reviews. Rottentonatoes.com rated the film 112 fresh tomatoes to 80 rotten ones. I'll rate it a 75.