The Dictator

Sacha Baron Cohen stars as General Aladeen - the ruthless dictator of Wadiya. The country is full of oil, but Aladeen has no interest in selling it. Instead, he has been putting every effort into building a nuclear weapons program, and the United Nations is ready to stop him.

Aladeen decides to head to New York and address the U.N. General Assembly, but, someone has been plotting against him. Once in the Big Apple, he is kidnapped and replaced with a body double, who is supposed to sign a new constitution giving unheard of rights and freedom to Wadiya.


Will Aladeen be able to stop the coup and save his country from freedom and democracy?

Cohen may never be able to replicate the success of Borat, but, luckily, The Dictator is no Bruno. In typical Cohen style, he constantly is pushing the envelope and coming close to crossing the line, when he's not completely crossing the line, jumping back across to the other side, then sliding across the line again with some of the most biting humor around.

However, Cohen is an equal opportunity humorist attempting to reach out to everyone and every taste. For some, satire is the highlight of The Dictator as he skewers modern figures, current events and ideas.

Yet, Cohen also can get as dirty, low brow and deep into the potty humor as Adam Sandler on his naughtiest day. In that way, The Dictator might appeal to many, but it feels like half the audience is unhappy half the time, while the other half is laughing uproariously half the time. I guess the surprise part is finding out which half you belong to.

Cohen does make Aladeen into a very hilarious character, and that's what keeps the movie interesting and entertaining. It's not easy to make a bloodthirsty dictator into a comical figure (just ask Charlie Chaplin), but the actor turns Aladeen into a buffoonish loser, so his tendencies are viewed as comical instead of threatening. While every joke might not be gold, the funny man gives it everything he has to sell the joke and gets some laughs from his own efforts more than the quality of the material.

I think Cohen often gives his best work in other people's productions (Sweeney Todd, Hugo), but it's nice to see him develop a new character every now and then.

The Dictator is rated R for strong crude and sexual content, brief male nudity, language and some violent images.