Ali G? Check. Borat? Check. Bruno? Check. It took only about a decade, but Sasha Baron Cohen managed to give his three main characters from "Da Ali G Show" defining feature films. While the media exposure forced these comedic gems into retirement, Cohen managed to rake in a lot of cash, fame, and lawsuits in the process. Yet, being the comedic genius that he is, he still manages a few tricks up his sleeve, and brings us his first narrative comedy feature with The Dictator. While the results aren't quite as memorable or fresh as his earlier work, it's still an enjoyable, and very funny film.
Admiral General Aladeen (a parody by Cohen of the late, Libyan dictator, Muammar Gaddaffi) is the Supreme Dictator of the North African Republic of Wadiya (which happens to be in the same place as Eritrea). As presumably the last totalitarian nation in the world, the UN calls upon Aladeen to appear before the council and sign a treaty promising democratic reform, in light of his human rights abuses and harboring nuclear weapons. Upon arrival in New York City, and with plans to sabotage the signing, Aladeen escapes an abduction attempt (losing his signature beard in the process), and discovers the abduction was staged by his brother; the Defense Minister, who is puppeteering Aladeen's double to sign the treaty. Stripped of his identity, Aladeen wanders into an edgy organic food market, run by a hyper-sensitive young woman named Zoey (who, along with her store, is a parody of everything leftist, politically correct, and hipster). While the two are complete opposites, she ironically becomes Aladeen's only hope on the journey to reclaiming his sovereignty.
For anyone who's familiar with Cohen's brand of humor, The Dictator has many of the same elements of his earlier films, although, not as badly rehashed: The foreigner coming to America with the resulting culture clash, losing everything and hitting rock-bottom, sudden epiphany over cultural differences, and above all; a smattering of offensive-yet-hysterically-un-PC humor. Most of the humor works, but a lot of it does not feel as edgy or spontaneous as it did in his earlier works. I mainly presume this is the case, primarily because Cohen has some great opportunities throughout the film to really jab at current politics and social mores, but he doesn't attack them as strongly as he does with the situational comedy. Take these words as a caveat for anyone who is expecting a more political slant towards the humor, based on the film's subject matter.
Otherwise, while not his best film since Borat, The Dictator still offers enough laughs and general entertainment value to stand on it's own as a summer event comedy. Even it's featherweight political humor was enough to sustain my interest, despite my desire for that aspect to be much stronger. As a vaguely-relevant endnote, out of all the trailers that preceded it, I am most looking forward to The Campaign, with Will Ferrell and Zack Galfinakis. Perhaps this is due to it's timing towards the Presidential Election, but the political backstabbing seems like a fresh enough concept for me to enjoy.
7/10
And for anyone who missed this year's Oscars, here's Cohen's hysterical Red Carpet appearance as Aladeen:
And Aladeen's hysterical rendition of "The Next Episode," because I can (NSFW!)
Peace,
- Jon
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