Monday, May 21, 2012

The Dictator's offensive, funny humor

I knew going in that I'd be offended way more than once by The Dictator. But I still couldn't wait Sasha Baron Cohen's newest comedy. Nor could my husband.

The political satire offers some great totally politically incorrect humor. Some is subtle. Some is in your face. We found the audience didn't catch all the geo political references, such as to Zimbabwe and sub-Saharan African. Keeping up with the news is helpful in this one, but not totally necessary. Plenty of crass racist and sexist jokes fill the movie without the need to understand politics. Oh, and if it isn't obvious, this film isn't for the easily offended.

The film is about General Aladeen of the fictional oil-rich North African Republic of Wadiya (Cohen) coming to the U.S. to address the United Nations. However, things don't work out as planned. He's double crossed and his right-hand man (Ben Kingsley) uses a body double to get Wadiya promising democracy, something Aladeen is seriously against. Aladeen also loses his well-known beard which suddenly makes him unrecognizable as he tries to take back his rightful place.

See trailer:

Luckily, not all the funny parts are in the trailer. I don't want to give much away, but one hilarious part deals with what happens to the people Aladeen sends away for execution just because they get in his way or disagree with him. Oh, and there's a self pleasure scene that was outrageously funny. That's not to say there aren't plenty of misfires. Of course the plot is totally predictable, and the film ends as expected. But the ride is decent. I gave it a C+. My husband a solid B.

It's rated R for crude and sexual content, brief male nudity, language and violence. This one isn't for kids unless you want to blush sitting next to them and explain it all later.

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