Maybe the best comedy I’ve seen in the past six years or so;
the closest thing we have to an epic “serious” comedy on the level of Kubrick’s
Dr. Strangelove (1964) or Altman’s M*A*S*H (1970), with a bit of Woody Allen's Bananas (1971) thrown in for good measure; (and before
leaving me a nasty note, remember I didn't say on that level, but the
"closest" to it). Sacha Baron
Cohen finally proves himself the heir of Peter Sellers as not only a master of
impersonations but an analyst of the most touchy and taboo social issues. With The Dictator, he throws himself
into the middle of the never-ending tensions between the democratic west and radical
Islam of the middle-east, highlighting the foibles and hypocrisies on both
sides with a great balance of satire and humanity. Cohen plays Aladeen, president of the
fictional Arab state of Wadiya as well as his simple-minded look-alike decoy Efawadh,
who is being used by a conspiring aide (Ben Kingsley) in a plot to supplant Aladeen. It all provides endless opportunities to
critique the misunderstandings between American and Arab cultures. Perhaps it’s relevant that my favorite comedies
of the past decade dealt with this very subject too: Trey Parker’s Team
America: World Police (2004) and Albert Brooks’ Looking for Comedy in
the Muslim World (2006).
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