Review of The Devil's Double (2011) by Joey H — 16 Dec 2011

This film probably has the most convoluted, uninformative trailer that I've seen in a while, or at least that's how it felt, because after a while, they seemed more interested in style than substance in that trailer, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, because that trailer features the greatest "Mantoge" I've seen in a long time. It has guns, smokes, booze, cars, beautiful women, explosions and hard rock; and just like that I was pumped. Of course, then I saw the film, and around the time they watch a video of one man having his teeth pulled, one man being waterboarded and a man having his teeth pulled out and his hands crushed, I all but pulled a purse out of thin air, because if that's what it takes to be a man, I was out. Of course, then they got back to the guns, smokes, booze, cars, beautiful women, explosions and hard rock, as advertised, and just like "Certified Real Man" Steven Tyler, I was back in the saddle again. A real man can only go so long without jumping right back into a Lionsgate film that's basically a mixture of "Crank", "The Last King of Scotland" and, well, "Leaves of Grass", which I think is actually a perfectly appropriate piece to that mixture for a very obvious reason. No, not because it features someone pulling off a stellar dual role performance, but because Iraqis are pretty much the rednecks of the Middle East, which of course makes this a perfect portrait on why we should give a whole lot of money and power to crazy rednecks, because then you'll end up with Opie off of "The Andy Griffith Show" adapting "The Da Vinci Code". Well, that, and some painfully hard-to-watch, rather gratuitous gore, which isn't to say that that's the only problem in this film.

The problem with the film is its pacing, not in feel of progression, but in story progression, because this film just rushes through a good deal of events, and before you can fully lock into the scenario, it's on to the next bit. It doesn't help that the film gets repetative at points. Of course, what damages our investment in the film, and by extension, the whole experience itself is the total lack of development. Now, the film isn't totally devoid of exposition, but director Lee Tamahori's notorious big-dumb-action film sensibilities are palpable, as he pays little attention to absorbing our investment in the characters and getting a real feel for who they are. Were this film in the hands of a director more use to incorporating dramatic character aspects in the midst of grit and style, this film would have been deeply impacting and memorable, rather than forgettable and devoid of emotional investment. That's what I would say about an otherwise unexceptional film, something this film is most certainly not. Tamahori may not have his heart in the game, put the other players work this machine with grace, something I never I thought I'd say about a film with a scene where someone gets his hamstring split, his hands cut, the guts cut out and his eye taking a bullet at close range, and yet, here I am, complementing the artistic sensibilities behind the film.

Although Lee Tamahori's big action sensibilities leave emotional investment in our characters to take a heavy blow, it grants him an understanding of tension, something made greater by the handsome cinematography. There's not much terribly outstanding about the visual style behind the film, but it glows just bright enough to emphasize the sparkle and dazzle of the scenario, but has enough bleakness to it to emphasize the grit and tension as the darkness of the story unravels. This intensifies the gritty, actiony atmosphere set by Tamahori and evokes tension that builds with the darkness in the story, particularly when action does come into play, arousing some emotional investment and resonance in the story and characters. Of course, what all but arouses "total" emotional investment and resonance in the story and characters is the lead performance, or rather, lead performances by Dominic Cooper, who's transformation into these two people of entirely different personalities and morals is absolutely seamless. If that's not impressive enough, his transformations into both Latif Yahia and Uday Hussein are so deep, so fully realized and so mesmerizing that you not only have little, if any idea that these two people are Dominic Cooper, but have little, if any idea that "either" of these two people are Dominic Cooper. Tamahori puts no effective effort into building on our two leads, but Cooper fully embodies the lives and atmosphere of our central characters, nailing Hussein's heartless, insane level of corruption and greed in a consistent and believable, yet rather layered fashion, while also nailing Yahia's sense of honor and entrapment in this seemingly hopless and dark scenario that's far over his head. Watching Cooper deliver not one, but two, layered and deeply transformative performances is a hypnotic experience by itself, much less when he's actually working off of himself in such a flawless fashion that you feel as though you really are watching two people conduct this tense, awe-inspiring dance of greed and entrapment, making Cooper the real teller of this tale that he builds and builds, leaving you constantly on the edge of your seat, seeing what next gasp-summoning event he will boldly lead next.

In conclusion, the rushed, often repetative storyline is exacerbated by a borderline total absence of development that could have very well made this a forgettable, emotionally vacant, potential squanderer of a film, but what Tamahori lacks in character sensibilities, he makes up for with a sensibility of setting tension, ameliorated by a stylish visual style, and made completely effective by Dominic Cooper's stellar, transformative and layered dual performances that clash and spark up the powerful fires of compellingness that make "The Devil's Double" a consistently intriguing and tensely thrilling study on the cruel corruption of Uday Hussein, and the struggles faced by the man he trapped in his horrifying world.

3/5 - Good.