By THOMAS BOND
Meh. Borat’s latest film is an attempt to join the world of traditional storytelling, but The Dictator proves that mockumentary may be the best avenue for the comedy of Sacha Baron Cohen. The film, about a dictator who loses his identity and is trapped in America, is disjointed in an unpleasant way, and stupid to the point of not being funny. There were a few very inspired scenes of classic Sacha comedy, especially one involving a locked room and Forrest Gump, but the general feeling I had was one of light chuckles and longful sighs for the boldness and creativity that Borat was soaked in. The Dictator forgot to get dunked in the waters of boldness and creativity. Yawn.
Film info: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1645170/
May not be funny from start to finish but I’m not sure you can accuse him not being “bold.” It’s fairly in-your-face and offensive to most, aka, the entire Arab world. Check out my review. Write on!
I’m quite sure I can accuse him of not being bold, because I know what bold is for him. Sure, there were a few edgy scenes in The Dictator, but nothing that made me squirm with a delicately balanced mix of laughter and repulse, like his earlier work. Too many of the jokes in The Dictator aren’t funny because we’ve heard them a thousand times before. He’s not treading new ground, but dragging us through predictable muck. His character is basically exactly what we expect him to be. I’ll stand my ground. The Dictator is not bold, my friend. Not for Cohen, at the very least.