Reviews of The Dictator 2012
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The Dictator is extremely funny, inventive, and more daring in its offensiveness then I expected. This is yet another solid entry in Baron Cohen's colorful characters. He is truly one of a kind.
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He was a Dic of a tator. Not funny.
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Found this less funny than I did the first time I saw it. Some clever stuff in there but some disappointingly broad, obvious humour and a romantic sub-plot - ironic or not - just doesn't work.
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Review from my VOD column "This Week on Demand"
In the case of Borat and Bruno, the films and characters that launched Sacha Baron Cohen to stardom on both sides of the Atlantic, the bulk of the comedy—such as it was—came from the audacity with which the vulgarity and crassness was staged, and the sheer awkwardness that arose from the reactions of the public to this transgressiveness. The Dictator, by contrast, scripted and shot traditionally without the benefit of mockumentary…
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My favourite line from the trailer, "America: Birthplace of AIDS!" Isn't even in the movie. What a waste.
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So unfunny I actually started trying to follow the plot so I could squeeze some entertainment value of this movie. The half a star is for the 10 percent of the jokes that actually worked.
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A Larry Charles film starring Sacha Baron Cohen should be a lot funnier than this. The trouble with the success of stuff like BORAT is that people get wise to the format. Similar problems were faced by Dom Joly and Paul Kaye but to a lesser scale. So it's back to the ALI G INDAHOUSE brand of filmmaking which doesn't harness Cohen's comedy all that well.
There are a few laughs to be had but it's strange that a SBC tale about a despot from a fictional Middle Eastern country arriving in America doesn't feel dangerous enough.
Disappointing.
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Een vraag die al even door de wandelgangen van onze redactie suist: is komiek Sacha Baron Cohen een aap met slechts één kunstje of is hij een geslepen entertainer die een vertrouwd concept steeds opnieuw op frisse wijze kan heruitvinden. Het mes snijdt ons inziens langs twee kanten: de typetjes van Cohen zijn weldoordacht en – het dient gezegd – ook behoorlijk geinig. Toch raken we stilaan vermoeid van de maskerade van Baron Cohen. Bij ‘The dictator’ is dat niet…
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A forthright but nevertheless enjoyable and acerbic comedy.
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Viewed on Netflix
Offensive, if your one who gets offended by images or words.
I thought it was funny. -
Although not received well, this is simultaneously his most controversial and conventional film. Baron Cohen has refined Aladeen as much as previous characters and it shows, the presence of a script also hinders this. It's no Bruno but its a step up from Ali G In Da House.