The Dictator Movie Review

'The Dictator' Shockya.com Movie Review, Written by: Karen Benardello Director: Larry Charles Starring: Sacha Baron Cohen, Anna Farris and Ben Kingsley Actors who have found fame and controversy with a film filled with comedic shock value and offensive stereotypes can have difficulty finding other movies that truly showcase their talent. In the case of Sacha Baron Cohen, who plays the title character in the new comedy ‘The Dictator,’ the actor created another character who regularly finds himself in outrageous scandals, due to his beliefs. While Baron Cohen couldn’t fully recapture Borat’s offensive behavior, ‘The Dictator’ still features his signature, confrontational stereotypes. ‘The Dictator’ follows Admiral General Aladeen (played by Cohen), who rules the anti-democratic country of the North African Republic of Wadiya. Aladeen intends to develop nuclear weapons to use on his enemies. After the United Nations Security Council announces its intentions to intervene in the country with military force, Aladeen travels to the UN Headquaraters in New York City to address its concerns. During his time in New York, he’s kidnapped by a hitman (portrayed by John C. Reilly), who was hired by his traitorous uncle Tamir (played by Ben Kingsley). Tamir plans on replacing Aladeen with a political decoy, who he can manipulate into publicly democratizing Wadiya and open the country’s oil reserves for business. With the help of activist Zoe (portrayed by Anna Farris), who offers Aladeen a job in her grocery store, he’s able to gain access into the UN headquarters, as she’s catering the televised event of the signing of the democracy papers. In the process, Aladeen starts to genuinely love Zoe, who starts to influence his ideas on politics. Baron Cohen, who co-wrote ‘The Dictator,’ his first fully scripted film, succeeded in once again creating a character whose ignorance brought comedic shock value to several sensitive subjects. Some of the jokes were extremely repetitive of ‘Borat,’ including objectifying women as prostitutes and criticizing minorities for their looks and beliefs; however, the actor-writer wasn’t afraid to once again amusingly feature attacks on all races and their biggest stereotypes. To continue reading this review, please click here.