Review: "The Dictator" is insane fun riff on politics via screwball leader

"The Dictator" R
Sacha Barcon Cohen and Anna Farris and a cast of other actors and improv people, and some who weren't meant to be, appear in this fish out of water raunchy comedy. Cohen plays a Borat like character, only more like Ghadaffi than Hitler, and a bit like Akdaminijad, if he was funny, but he isn't. Cohen's Aladdeen is the leader of a fake country sandwiched between Egypt and Ethiopia where he rules as the leader, with ridiculously overgrown beard and a guard of hot chicks with guns, several concubines, and lots of weapons and oil. When he is accosted in New York, and shaved, he is forced to blend in with the natives until he can get to the UN meeting, where a double of him threatens to destroy his regime by introducing democracy. Although not as subversive as Bruno and not as surprising as Borat (as they could no longer convince people he wasn't Cohen), it is a clever ruse, and a mean spirited parody of everything from the Iraq conflict to Iran's weapons ambitions, to BP causing an oil spill, to middle east oppression, to even, gasp, 9/11. The torture parody is hilarious and the various little gags about balls, poop and playing keep away with a dead man's head, are original and quite shockingly funny. Farris appears to be a spoof of the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo crossed with Yentle. Ha. If you're going to be offended by ethnic stereotyping jokes, don't see it. Actually they make fun of the Bush administration too. So it's okay. Nobody gets left out.
Review by Adam Browne