The Dictator

Sacha Baron Cohen's world absurdity tour continues, but with diminishing returns. It is instructive to do a compare and contrast with the auteurs most successful work, Borat. The earlier movie, made in faux documentary style, landed one uproarious laugh after another, while this effort, a more standard fictional comedic setup with Cohen playing African-Arab autocrat Aladeen, has its fine moments, but they come scattershot, mostly as jokes and one-liners that work in isolation. Clearly, the demands of a fictional narrative muted the impact of Cohen’s outrageous style of comedy. What you’re left with, then, is a film that represents probably the lower endpoint of this comedian's arc. It is no wonder that Cohen eventually moved away from this sort of movie and took on a number of smaller, often more serious roles in later years. As for this work, again, it has its moments, but given the expectations raised by the earlier efforts, it is difficult to view this entry as anything but a disappointment—and that verdict is rendered despite the presence of the normally reliable Anna Faris as Aladeen's foil/love interest. (The final joke, by the way, is fully telegraphed and comes as no surprise to anyone in the audience who has been paying the slightest attention.) Thankfully, those of us who do not live in Wadiya have the freedom to choose whether or not to watch this work. If you’re feeling as self-indulgent as your typical Middle Eastern dictator, perhaps you will wish to spend your time on this endeavor. Otherwise, you may seek the refuge of giving this one a pass.