This was quite a pitiful premiere with barely any red carpet. I arrived at 6.15pm to be told I had just missed Dominic Cooper arriving (*sob*) then I saw Rosamund Pike and other people I didn't recognise having their photos taken (who are these 'celebrities?'). I also saw the girl from The Promise on my way out of the screen. George Lamb did an intro but I don't know who he is
and the introduction felt very half hearted from those involved. I was in the second row so got a very good view of Dominic
but I would have liked to hear more from Latif.
Lovely to see valda, pxc, soonforgotten, bevvy, 5rannoch and to meet hopeprince.
This was an intriguing insight into the dark, depraved world of Uday Hussein. Cooper was mesmerising pulling off the two roles simultaneously. They are two very different characters, one a sociopath and the other tortured and victimised, but the audience never questions which person he is playing at any one time. The blending of each performance to put them in scenes together feels natural and believable. There are several horrific gory scenes that are difficult to watch and some very difficult themes addressed that may make some people uncomfortable: rape, murder, kidnapping, violence, suicide however the film handles these quite well without letting them detract from the main focus of the film. I thought it was clever to mix in authentic news footage to give updates on the Gulf War. The two main characters obviously dominate the film, but some of the secondary characters also feel underdeveloped - Uday's girlfriend, Latif's sympathetic bodyguards. I do agree with others who said it is too long, it does flounder in the second act and the ending doesn't really satisfy. Having not read the book, I hope this was translated well to screen but is a gripping piece of entertainment in its own right. 7/10.
Member No. 1 of the "100 free films in 2020" club. 7 seen 
Member No. 1 of the "100 free films in 2009 - 2019" clubs. 826 seen 
Member No. 1 of the "104 free previews in 2008" club. 92 seen 
