Wednesday, May 16, 2012

The Dictator


The extent of Sacha Baron Cohen’s greatness has yet to be fully realized. Fifteen years from now, when we’re laughing at the newest shmuck who stays in character for great lengths of time, and does whatever it takes to make an ass out of himself and his subject, it’ll be important to remember where that style originated. Certainly Baron Cohen isn’t the pioneer of dress-up comedy, Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton and the Marx Brothers established the style, but Baron Cohen is one of the few people who continually reinvigorates it. With vemon, no less.


I think it takes an incredibly skilled, wildly intelligent, immeasurably audacious person to do what Baron Cohen does. HBO’s Da Ali G Show is arguably the funniest program to ever air on a television screen, and his film Borat is the most hilariously eye-opening, can’t-catch-your-breath film of the 2000s. His Brüno had its moments, but proved that not all of the characters on his Ali G show could sustain a feature. And now we get The Dictator, Baron Cohen’s first fully scripted character-based feature, and his first rather serious misfire.

Baron Cohen plays General Aladeen, a purposefully hyperbolic tyrannical dictator who accepts an offer to publically address the UN in New York City. But when he’s kidnapped and groomed (the abductor’s go-to torture method for “Arabs” is to only shave their beards, apparently), Aladeen suffers a serious case of mistaken identity in the Big Apple.
Throughout his brief course to reclaim his identity (the film is less than 85 minutes, thank God) we’re “privy” to the wayward philosophies of Aladeen. How he enjoys raping (women and little boys), killing, arming himself with nukes, giving famous actresses herpes, you name it. Problem is, none of this is funny, in fact, it’s pretty goddamn boring. In all honesty, I did not laugh once (…once) during the entirety of this film. Instead, I sat dumbfounded by how flat Baron Cohen’s jokes fell. The man is my favorite living comedian, and he failed to inspire even the slightest of chuckles from me.

As is usually the case with a Baron Cohen-starring film, The Dictator is sparking polarizing views from its audience. You love it or hate it. Most of the people who hate it say they find the film offensive. I didn’t at all. A film has to matter in some small way in order to offend me. Being politically correct isn’t part of Baron Cohen’s bag of tricks, and I have no problem with that. Being entertaining, however, is something that is mildly necessary for a comedian.

Now, my respect for this man and his work needs to be made very clear. Firstly, from a filmmaking perspective, it is simply impossible to not respect Baron Cohen’s methods. Because, really, how many times is a posh, conservative white woman going to let you hold a bag of shit in her face? So, as Ali G, Borat and Brüno, every situation was hit or miss. Baron Cohen can’t afford to break character, if he did, the shot would be blown.
Secondly, I greatly admire what Baron Cohen is able to provoke from his subjects. As Borat especially, he admitted to most everyone that he was a Jew-bashing bigot, and, in turn, they admitted similar prejudices to him. It is because of this manipulative tactic that Borat, in addition to being one of the funniest movies of the decade, was also one of the most horrifying. That’s the real America right there. Or part of it, at least.

And this is precisely what The Dictator misses. Because it is scripted, everything feels forced and repeated. There’s a scene in which Aladeen curses at the NYPD for not letting him into his hotel. The whole time, I wondered if that scene was “real” or not. Were those cops, or paid actors? Did they think they were talking to some loon, or were they aware that they were talking to an actor? I’m not sure, but I do know that the film would be a lot funnier if they those cops had never heard of Sacha Baron Cohen. D

14 comments:

  1. I didn't think it was anything special, but it had me laughing more than I imagined I would be doing judging from the first couple of trailers. Cohen just has a certain type of comedy and he never lets up and in today's day, we need that because comedy has been starting to get soft as of late. Good review Alex.

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    1. Dude, I couldn't agree more that (American) comedy is weaker and softer then it has ever been, but man, Dictator just didn't do it for me. Again, I love Cohen, so I was really bummed out.

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  2. I can't wait to see it - I love Borat and Bruno and Cohen always cracks me up. However if you didn't like this one...well, that is not a good sign for me :)

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    1. Like I said, you'll either love it or hate it. I really (really, really) wanted to love this. But I just... didn't.

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  3. I'm not in love with Cohen. Borat was incredibly funny, Bruno was incredibly awful.

    This I mildly cared for. It made me laugh - despite being in the same tradition of Cohen's comedy. Which is really what it boils down to Alex: whether the viewer enjoys the type of comedy Cohen puts on.

    Many may be shocked to learn that a lot of people don't enjoy his kind of humor.

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    1. Oh man, I'd say the majority of people out there find him repulsive. I'm with you on Borat - absolutely loved it. I didn't think Bruno was awful, but I saw it once, and that was enough. This one though just didn't do it for me at all. Most everything felt forced and rehearsed.

      Either way, I'll be curious to see what he cooks up in the future.

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  4. I think you've hit the nail on the head with the love it or hate it bit, I loved it and it seems no-one thought 'it was ok' or neutral, just polar opposites! I think I had low expectations going in as well as there weren't too many reviews out there.

    Not sure if it's a maturity thing (I think it is ;) ) but I laughed oh so many times. Will be interesting to see how the public receive it.

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    1. I don't think it's a maturity thing at all. Believe you me, I have nearly died laughing at the sight of two very large male testicles in Baron Cohen's face, so I'm certainly not above or too mature for his silliness, if that makes sense.

      I just read your review, and I can't argue with you. I can easily see how people would find this funny, and I could easily see how people would loathe it. It really is either or.

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  5. Haven't seen this yet. I reckon I'll probably like it in a cheap-shot sorta way. Good review as always, though. One thing;

    "...Baron Cohen’s first fully scripted character-based feature, and his first rather serious misfire."

    The Ali G Movie was a pretty regular scripted feature, and was also shit.

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    1. Thanks man! You know, I thought about that Ali G film... most of the reviews panned it, but the first (and only) time I watched it, I remember laughing hysterically. It was in college, and I'm sure some liquid courage was involved, but my best recollection is that I enjoyed it. Could be different now. Who knows. Either way, thanks for reading/commenting!

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  6. You're right, one of the things that makes Cohen such a good actor is the fact that he doesn't break character in key moments- some people don't realize how hard it is to maintain a straight face during some of those scenes. He should get more credit, but in his case, I just think people judge him more on the subject and the initial reaction to the film, and forget about his performance.

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    1. Couldn't agree more, he really is a fantastic comedian. But this go-round just didn't do it for me. No matter, I'll be back for the next one.

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  7. Hmmmm I was doing some arm twisting with the boys so we could reveiw this film this week. Now I am not so sure. I usually like Cohen's comedy, now I am stuck on the fence as to whether to see this.

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    1. Honestly, I think it's good to see if you like his comedy. If anything, it will reaffirm that he is a God, or, it will make clear that no comedian is a God. Love or hate.

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