Review of The Devil's Double (2011) by Grant S — 24 Jan 2014

Interesting, but not compelling. Interesting in that it takes a behind-the-scenes look at Saddam Hussein's Iraq, its excesses and crimes. More particularly, Uday Hussein's excesses and crimes.

However, the investigation is fairly superficial. Uday Hussein seems more like a cartoon villain than a real person. Plus, the worst of his actions aren't depicted. What we have is a sanitized version of history. To make the movie confronting and compelling, the story should have been told warts and all.

Decent performance by Dominic Cooper, appearing as both Uday Hussein and his doppelganger, Latif Yahia. The doppelganger performance is the much more powerful of the two. As mentioned, the Uday Hussein character seems like a caricature, though that would be more the fault of the writer and director than of Cooper.