Review of The Dictator (2012) by Thedrauch — 27 Aug 2012

While it is understandably hard to recreate the success of Borat, Sacha Baron Cohen hits less of a note of focused political insight hidden within doses of raunchiness and more of a note of gross out, juvenile, broad, hit-and-miss jokes that recall a mix of Charlie Chaplin's 'The Great Dictator' and 'You Don't Mess with the Zohan'.

While there are some admittedly funny bits (holding hands romantically inside of a pregnant woman giving birth, a terrorist misunderstanding in a helicopter, and a clever speech about democracies and dictatorships, for example), most of the film has an air of mean-spiritedness and when the jokes miss, they miss by a mile.

While Sacha Baron Cohen seems more dedicated to craft than the average funny-man, 'The Dictator' winds up being just a comedic vehicle running on empty.