Review of The Devil's Double (2011) by Scott J — 08 Dec 2012

"The Devil's Double" starts with Latif Yahia(Dominic Cooper), an army lieutenant, being driven to the presidential palace in Baghdad where he first encounters Sarrab(Ludivine Sagnier). It is then that Uday Hussein(Dominic Cooper), a former schoolmate but never really a friend, makes his presence known with an offer for Latif to become his double that the other man cannot refuse, yet tries his hardest to. After the torture and threats to his family, Yatif finally gives in. So, it's a good thing that Munem(Raad Rawi) is on hand to advise him and that Saddam Hussein(Philip Quast) takes a liking to him. Just don't displease him.

While "The Devil's Double" succeeds greatly on a wonderful performance of Dominic Cooper and the charms of Ludivine Sagnier, it also proves that maybe Lee Tamahori is not entirely incompetent. That is not to say there is not a lot for room for improvement here as the movie could have taken more advantage of the surrealism of the situation which is based on a true story. As it is, a lot of the movie revolves around people giving Latif that 'now, do you see what I have to put up with?' look while he responds with a disapproving look all his own. In other words, we already knew that Uday, here portrayed as a giggling maniac, was evil.