The Devil's Double

[ejwrank]

I also attended the premiere tonight. I saw the usual losers outside. There's this one guy I saw at the Transformers UK premiere at IMAX Waterloo. He's an autograph collector. He just stands there like a massive moron with his stupid little book and his stupid little pen, waiting for somebody vaguely famous to come along. If he wasn't such great mocking material for my mates and I, I would probably slap him. But anyway, regardless of him, he didn't manage to ruin my evening and my enjoyment for what is an extremely good film. It manages to blend drama, comedy and thriller all into one, and occasionally throws in a bit of gore. There's some really hard-hitting stuff featured - the rape and murder of minors is prominent, so it definitely earns it's 18 certificate. Sadly the film tailed off towards the end. It felt a little too long and drawn out. It could easily have been trimmed down. I thought Dominic Cooper was superb. Yes, his English accent occasionally creeps in, but it was no worse than Robert Lindsay breaking into full cockney when playing Onassis! Anyway, a thoroughly enjoyable evening, and four stars for the film, AKA 8/10!

I feel sorry for that autograph seeker. There's nothing wrong with looking for autographs and aren't you the lucky one to be attending the premiere and you should be glad of your good luck instead of being mean and miserable so someone who wasn't so lucky. As for the autograph hunter being "great mocking material" for your mates... well that cruel comment leaves me speechless.

[TheDude]

Why would an autograph collector ruin your evening?

[mattymc13]

Stop taking everything so seriously!

[Beate]

Well, you have obviously offended people with your comments so maybe you should take that seriously. You are not talking to your mates here, you are making your thoughts known to a large group of people, so you have to be prepared for other opinions. We are trying to be nice on this forum and not belittle others.

Back to the film, there was a small report on the ITV News just now with an interview with the real double guy. He must have gone through some horrible experiences!

[superhero]

Back to topic, has anyone read the book? What an amazing life he must have lived in Baghdad. I want to know more about Latif now

[superhero]

Yep it must have been incredible, however I suggest people who are going to watch it, not to read much more about it on here....

Well, you have obviously offended people with your comments so maybe you should take that seriously. You are not talking to your mates here, you are making your thoughts known to a large group of people, so you have to be prepared for other opinions. We are trying to be nice on this forum and not belittle others.

Back to the film, there was a small report on the ITV News just now with an interview with the real double guy. He must have gone through some horrible experiences!

[valda]

Thanks again to Funthing inviting me along to the premiere.

I had not read anything or seen the trailer and vaguely knew about the Husseins and body doubles. I found this a very interesting film indeed. I can't believe how crazy this guy was, and no one did anything about it at all. Obviously you don't know what happened for real and what was just in the film, I would imagine he probably was a lot worse.
Dominic Cooper pulled off the two roles very well, they even looked different but the same if you know what I mean. I was racking my brain trying to think who his performance of Uday reminded me of, and it is Freddie Mercury (maybe Dominic could play him one day)

I had forgotten how garish the 80's were, such frightful clothes and furnishings yuk! The latter 1/3 of the film dragged a bit, I think it could have been a bit shorter but all in all an interesting film 8/10

[superhero]

Do people think Dominic Cooper will get any Best Actor nominations for his roles in this film?

[soonforgotten]

This film really deserved better than the carpet-less, side entrance premiere it got.

Here's Dom signing for some fans along the concrete "carpet"-

Dominic Cooper signs for fans before The Devil's Double Premiere @ West End Vue 1 August 2011

There are a few other photos including one of the lovely Rosamund Pike (though I had no idea who she was... oh well).

Once in the cinema, we were shocked that there was nothing but a bottle of water for each seat. No chocolate, nor popcorn. Boo to that. Chatted with Valda and funthing to pass the time as we contemplated the fates of our assigned seats. Not too long after 7pm the introduction took place which included Dominic amd Latif. Then it was time for the madness. This film is certainly not one for the kiddies. Yet, I think the amount of violence and gore was right for this. There should be no under-playing how sick Uday Hussein was. This film leaves no doubt about that and Cooper is simply magnificent in portraying him. It's a serious, star-making turn in its own right. Nevermind the fact that he also plays the reluctant decoy, Latif. It's in this role that his British accent cracks through on several occasion, but he does well to develop an entirely different character playing opposite to himself. It's easy to forget that the same actor is performing both roles. I agree that the film takes an odd diversion following a highly climactic showdown between Latif and Uday. The motivations of Sarrab struck me as unclear, leaving an unsatisfactory resolution to that subplot. However, this was quickly redeemed by the dramatic finale.

This is very difficult to watch at times, but tells a gripping story and shows a representation of Iraq and the Hussein family from within, which I really enjoyed. Cooper is positively spellbinding as Uday specifically and in bringing the two roles together. This is a shocking story that is impressively brought to the big screen. 8.5/10

[superhero]

Also point to note if they say seated for 18:45 for any premiere, minimum add 15 minutes but normally it's +1/2hr. They do love making us normal folks wait!