So, I just saw the Dictator. For the first time in a movie theater, I saw people regularly going in and out to get beers. That was new, but I understand that this is the perfect movie to drink to. Maybe if I had been drunk it would have actually made sense.
After being a homophobic tourist in Borat and shocking the world with explicit homosexual pornography in Bruno, Sacha Boren Cohen now stars in The Dictator which both mocks dictators and American politics. It pretty much mocks everything. In The Dictator, Aladeen, (Sacha Boren Cohen) a repressive dictator trying to ensure democracy never comes to his country. He goes to New York with his brother (Ben Kingsley) to attend a UN meeting when his brother betrays him and replaces him with a double. Alone in New York, Aladeen can only trust Zoey (Anna Feris) and a scientist he tried to execute (Jason Mantzoukas) to save his country…from being saved.
As my regular readers know, I look for stories in movies and characters. That aspect of the Dictator did not make sense at all. Why would a guy Aladeen tried to execute try to help him? However, considering it is a comedy, I’ll take it at face value. As far as comedy goes, over all, I thought it could be funnier. In a comedy, I want to be laughing constantly, rupturing my spleen in the process. Then I can sue the studio for hurting me and take care of my student debt. Anyway, the Dictator had its moments, but there were long periods, some like thirty minutes, in which I was not laughing at all. However, I will recognize there were moments of comedic genius that almost made it worth sitting through the long stretches.
All in all, I am pretty glad I saw it, but that was mainly because I had just seen the Raven and needed something uplifting to stop me from cringing from the pit in the pendulum scene and John Cusack’s terrible acting. And it worked. But I give it a 3 for not living up to my fraudulent expectations. I went to Austin College. I have a lot of debt.
Here's Lookin' at You Squid 