Why The Dictator Was Better Than I Expected.

Sacha Baron Cohen is a comedic genius. From his early days on the Ali G show to his blockbuster and controversial Borat and Bruno, SBC has made a name for himself in Hollywood. Unafraid to touch any subject, SBC goes places that very few comics will go today. Growing up an orthodox Jew and a minority, SBC has no hesitation making fun of anything and everything. The Dictator is SBC’s newest politically incorrect film about a fictional middle eastern dictator name Supreme Leader Admiral General Aladeen. Admiral General Aladeen is a suppressing and anti-civil rights Dictator who rules his country like we can all imagine the current dictators of the world can do.

The film is split into two parts. The first half of the film focuses on dictatorship of the Admiral General and just how ridiculous his regime is. Without revealing more than the trailers do, the film gets a change of scenery when Admiral General Aladeen loses his power and is stranded as a homeless man in New York City.

The film is flat out funny. Entering the film, I was worried that I had already seen the best moments of the film. Very often, the producers of a film will include every funny moment in the trailers, while striving to bring in larger audiences. A big part of me was worried that I had seen the best SBC had to offer in this film. Thankfully, I was pleasantly surprised at how funny the film was from start to finish. While definitely over the top, SBC is a master at situation humor and absolutely nails the genre’s humor. He really touches on every humorous aspect of a dictatorship. While some of the best moments of the film are already included in the trailers, there is still plenty of fresh humor in the film. I also have to commend SBC for not dragging the film out. At an hour and 23 minutes, the film is concise and never has a dull few minutes.

Of course, SBC goes over the top and gets that shock factor that he has built his career on. From the brief male nudity to a very disturbing birth scene, SBC wants to and is successful in shocking the audience. SBC makes fun of every race, sexual orientation, and minority and I am embarrassed to say I laughed every step of the way.

Sex: Very brief male nudity and very crude humor, as inappropriate as they come           

Violence: Little violence, a severed head is shown

Language: Strong Language

Drugs: None

Rated: R

Run time: 83 minutes

Grade: 3.5 Stars