What is a democracy?
That is the main question behind Sacha Baron Cohen’s latest crude and controversial comedy “The Dictator.”
While the star of “Borat” and “Ali G Show” may be presenting his audience with a much-needed-to-be-asked question, he goes about presenting it in a foolishly comedic way, dreaming up yet another genius racial persona in his latest socio-political commentary.
Cohen inhabits General Haffaz Alladeen, an eccentric dictator from the oil-wealthy African nation of Wadiya. Once again, Cohen does a masterful job at blending himself with the character, who is based primarily on the late Mohammar Qaddafi.
Alladeen is everything and more than what you’d expect from a malevolent ruler – impatient, intolerant, self-absorbed, childish and charismatic. Oh, and he’s also the most hated and wanted man in all the world, threatening the UN with his nuclear weapon development.
Following a botched assassination attempt in Wadiya, Alladeen’s loyal, right-hand man, Tamir (Sir Ben Kingsley, “Hugo”), misleadingly steers the dictator to the United States, where he plans to finally execute Alladeen and replace him with an idiotic body double, so he can profit off the country’s oil supply.
It’s a good plan until Alladeen miraculously escapes a hysterical torture sequence, not before having his beard removed.
From there, the plot takes a semi-expected romantic turn as Alladeen is introduced to his love storyline with Zoey (Anna Faris, “Scary Movie”), an all-inclusive, granola nuts grocery store owner, who mistakenly harbors the terrorist as a tourist named Alison.
Also thrown into the mix is the alienated scientist Nadal (Jason Mantzoukas, The League), who Alladeen ordered to be assassinated a few years back and is surprisingly alive, along with every other person he sentenced with his “head chop” signal.
In the Big Apple, the foreign tandem of Alladeen and Nadal go to work creating all sorts of mischief, including a hilarious misunderstanding with an old couple aboard a helicopter.
The soundtrack is one of the film’s many highlights, whisking the audience along with Waadeyan-reproduced tracks, mocking American classics such as “Let’s Get It On,” “The Next Episode” and the best of all “Everybody Hurts.”
While the music provides laughs in between sequences, the screenplay, written by Cohen, is outrageous and is jam-packed with everything from stereotypical slurs to sexists’ insults. Cohen bares no expense in this farce, mocking people from all over the world and limiting his jabs to no race or gender.
The main target is America, however, as Cohen goes full throttle at our country in one terrific rant towards the end.
In predictable fashion, the terrorist leader backs down on his nuclear agenda, settling for a life back in his native land with his new wife. He implements a quasi-democracy, but in the end, it doesn’t matter, because as this film suggests, the ideal may not be applicable much longer.
