The Dictator

[Beate]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2012/may ... CMP=twt_gu

[raj101]

I urge anyone tempted by this to stay at home and watch Four Lions instead.
Less than zero out of 10....

Do you think you should maybe watch all the film before you start urging people to avoid it. Just a thought.

Ha ha. I have walked out of films after 15 minutes and then started urging people to avoid it. It's what you do if you think a film is crap. And while I don't share his opinion on this particular film, he is within his right to give it.

Admittedly I walked out of the Dictator test screening after 45 mins purely because it was concocted of jokes for 12 year olds (nothing against them jokes but we've now all thrown around for the past twenty years and moved on from them years ago), with one good gag every half an hour. Half hour waits seemed far too long to wait for a decent gag, IMHO. I can sow more humour out of five minutes with a friend than in that entire movie, so in that respect its a pretty big waste of time. I think if ones never passed through that lurid childish period when you were 11-14 then perhaps this film is better for you - I dont mean that as a slight to any reader, lots of people miss out on periods in their lives for lots of reasons - personally I missed out on my 'Skins' years 16-18 so I tend to relive them a lot.

I also think that if you grew up in an era of very restrictive humour then you might find something no-holds barred like this quite fresh. Personally speaking, I grew up in the 'Mary Whitehouse Experience' era of comedy, when jokes was completely anti-PC, so the shock teen tactics of Cohen movies are very everyday and ordinary to me, but they'd be new and fresh to you guys brought up in this very PC era.

For the record, I walked into The Sitter, so not much of a gain in humour levels.

[Kimalogic]

I will probably see Avengers before I make up my mind whether to see The Dictator. Thanks for your thoughts and reviews. :-)

[TheyCallMeMrGlass]

I wrote up a review of this on the IMDB but like most others I found it in very bad taste, which was to be expected...and laughed a great deal which disturbs me! Have I lost my moral grounding?

[witwicky]

One of the WORST movies I’ve ever seen. Be it on TV or on the big screen. Apparently, Ben Kingsley even though he was amongst the lead stars, wasn’t bothered enough to attend the premiere, (not sure why, Ben, a well respected and established actor was involved with this trash).

Many of the “gags”/”jokes” wore in bad taste including the scene with the pregnant woman was soooo CRASS. I know that SBC very idiotic. I remember seeing some of the Ali G stuff on youtube and that was funny. But this “movie” just doesn’t work on any level... and it isn’t that he is being ironic but on many occasions being offensive.

Anna Faris could have been amazing if only she was allowed to be, but I suspect that SBC ego got in the way and wasn’t allowed to express her full potential, her performance was lacklustre at best. All her other movies she is hilarious, I really love the Scary movies series, and she is amazing in them, but in this “movie” I just saw a dull, bored, and couldn’t be bothered (or wasn’t allowed to be) Anna, who is only there because she is getting pa*d a lot of money.

[KarenLN1]

I went to the preview of this film on Thursday evening with my 15 year-old daughter and we laughed a lot. It is totally outrageous and politically incorrect, but it is really funny if you take it for what it is - a comedy. As part of the preview there was footage before the film of the premiere in London where Sacha Baron Cohen came in character on the red carpet and he was just as tongue-in-cheek there. I felt a bit sorry for Mohammed Al Fayed.

[Kimalogic]

I have not seen this yet and I probably sound a bit vintage but does anyone else think his Ali G character is the best one. Other characters don't seem to be as believable I feel.

I went to the preview of this film on Thursday evening with my 15 year-old daughter and we laughed a lot. It is totally outrageous and politically incorrect, but it is really funny if you take it for what it is - a comedy. As part of the preview there was footage before the film of the premiere in London where Sacha Baron Cohen came in character on the red carpet and he was just as tongue-in-cheek there. I felt a bit sorry for Mohammed Al Fayed.

[raj101]

I have not seen this yet and I probably sound a bit vintage but does anyone else think his Ali G character is the best one. Other characters don't seem to be as believable I feel.

I went to the preview of this film on Thursday evening with my 15 year-old daughter and we laughed a lot. It is totally outrageous and politically incorrect, but it is really funny if you take it for what it is - a comedy. As part of the preview there was footage before the film of the premiere in London where Sacha Baron Cohen came in character on the red carpet and he was just as tongue-in-cheek there. I felt a bit sorry for Mohammed Al Fayed.

characterwise Ali G was best. But he was basically Dennis Pennis from 1995. Everyone after him copied his pisstake celebrity interviews (Daisy Donovan, Cohen etc).

But Borat is the best movie. Its actually a well paced comedy for at least 60 minutes.

[witwicky]

I have not seen this yet and I probably sound a bit vintage but does anyone else think his Ali G character is the best one. Other characters don't seem to be as believable I feel.

I went to the preview of this film on Thursday evening with my 15 year-old daughter and we laughed a lot. It is totally outrageous and politically incorrect, but it is really funny if you take it for what it is - a comedy. As part of the preview there was footage before the film of the premiere in London where Sacha Baron Cohen came in character on the red carpet and he was just as tongue-in-cheek there. I felt a bit sorry for Mohammed Al Fayed.

characterwise Ali G was best. But he was basically Dennis Pennis from 1995. Everyone after him copied his pisstake celebrity interviews (Daisy Donovan, Cohen etc).

But Borat is the best movie. Its actually a well paced comedy for at least 60 minutes.

You are so right about Dennis Pennis, the best of them all. SBC/Ali G was a substandard copy of the Dennis Pennis, and then Borat was a continuation of that with SBC.

I hate to admit this but I find Daisy Donovan sexy in a very quirky way...

[raj101]

I hate to admit this but I find Daisy Donovan sexy in a very quirky way...

she was good for 90s trash tv. Like Cohen, another good waste of a quarter million pound Oxbridge education.