The Dictator (2012)
Average Rating: 5.9/10
Reviews Counted: 209
Fresh: 120 | Rotten: 89
Wildly uneven but consistently provocative, The Dictator is a decent entry in the poli-slapstick comedy genre.
Average Rating: 6.3/10
Critic Reviews: 43
Fresh: 27 | Rotten: 16
Wildly uneven but consistently provocative, The Dictator is a decent entry in the poli-slapstick comedy genre.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.1/5
User Ratings: 162,965
Movie Info
The heroic story of a North African dictator who risks his life to ensure that democracy would never come to the country he so lovingly oppressed. -- (C) Paramount
Watch It Now
Cast
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Sacha Baron Cohen
Aladeen/Efawadh, Gen... -
Anna Faris
Zoey -
Ben Kingsley
Tamir -
Sayed Badreya
Omar -
Jason Mantzoukas
Nadal -
Michele Berg
Aladeen's Mother -
Liam Campora
Aladeen Age 6 -
Aasif Mandvi
Doctor -
Rizwan Manji
Patient -
Rick Chambers
Newscaster Voiceover -
Adeel Akhtar
Maroush -
Horatio Sanz
Aide on Balcony -
Rocky Citron
Baby Aladeen -
Justo Usin
Assassin -
Joey Slotnick
Homeless Man -
Ian Roberts
NYC Cop -
Chris Parnell
News Anchor -
Jessica St. Clair
Denise -
David Wolos Fonteno
Secretary General -
Anna Katarina
Angela Merkel -
Michael G. Delaney
Delegate -
William Fowle
Delegate -
Bobby Lee
Mr. Lao -
Olek Krupa
Gazprom Executive -
Alan Cox
BP Executive -
Kevin Corrigan
Slade -
Mitchell Green
Joteph -
Jenny L. Saldaña
Hannah -
George Bartenieff
Romanian Accountant -
Chris Gethard
Clark -
Fred Armisen
Waiter/Minister -
Elena Goode
Virgin Guard -
Dawn Zimniak
Virgin Guard -
Danielle Burgio
Virgin Guard -
Dominique DiCaprio
Virgin Guard -
Maria Victoria Beltr...
Virgin Guard -
Aja Frary
Virgin Guard -
Naz Homa
Virgin Guard -
Elsayed Mohamed
Wadiyan Olympic Offi... -
Fred Melamed
Head Nuclear Scienti... -
Sean T. Krishnan
Waiter/Cereal Loving... -
Eliyas Qureshi
Angry Wadiyan Diner -
Chris Elliott
Mr. Ogden -
Jon Glaser
Obnoxious Customer -
Daniel Burress
Customer in Bathroom -
Pete Wiggins
Bratty Kid Customer -
Adam Le Fevre
Man in Helicopter -
Marceline Hugot
Woman in Helicopter -
Anthony Mangano
Arresting Officer -
Melissa Francis
Local News Reporter -
Tim J. Ellis
Offended Customer -
Michael Hardart
Store Customer -
Miriam Tolan
Health Inspector's W... -
Zachary Mackiewicz
Health Inspector's S... -
J.B. Smoove
Funeral Usher, Usher -
Hollis Granville
Eldridge Douglas -
Ann Dev'Unay
Mourner -
Sondra James
Friendly Customer -
Tara Copeland
Mom Shopping with To... -
Sydney Berry
Toddler -
Kathryn Hahn
Pregnant Woman -
Seth Morris
Pregnant Woman -
Kate Pak
Mrs. Lao -
Regina Anne Rizzo
Puppeteer -
Tracey Ruggiero
Mugging Victim -
Karl Jacob
Aladeen Double -
Marcia Debonais
Woman in Hotel Windo... -
Nasim Pedrad
Female GMW -
Mousa Kraish
Wadiyan Soldier -
Neimah Djourabchi
Wadiyan Soldier -
Sevan Greene
Wadiyan Soldier -
Nadav Malmud
Wadiyan Soldier -
Fred North
Helicopter Pilot (NY... -
Fred Hanna
Helicopter Pilot (NY... -
William Richards
Helicopter Pilot -
Marc Wolff
Helicopter Pilot (Sp... -
Cordell King
Helicopter Ground Cr... -
Chris Elliot
Mr. Ogden -
Megan Fox
Megan Fox -
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The Dictator Trailer & Photos
All Critics (210) | Top Critics (43) | Fresh (120) | Rotten (89) | DVD (1)
The film has a vicious edge that the Marx Brothers didn't have, and it's too low-minded to achieve their enchanting blend of anarchy and surrealism.
Top CriticNow [Cohen is] turning material both fresh and rancid into tepid gruel.
On the laughmeter The Dictator is closer to Borat than to the misfired Bruno, which is to say it's funny for about half of its brisk 83 minutes.
Most of The Dictator had me neither laughing nor shocked, but just staring at the screen in anxious is-that-all-there-is? silence.
A bit scattershot and schticky, the film never quite settles into a consistent comic rhythm. Yet for fans of Baron Cohen's work there are plenty of moments of crass hilarity.
For the most part, the movie's rhythms feel slightly off -- there are long stretches without a laugh -- and there is a mean-spirited air to the whole thing.
This comedy succeeds as a crude, inventive and humours look at a dumb despot.
This is not a character who can hold the center of a movie for 90 minutes.
A mix of gimme jokes and fish-out-of-water observations about a foreigner's introduction to New York City that were rendered clichéd by 'Crocodile Dundee.'
Underrated comic excellence from Sacha Baron Cohen with plenty of sharp satire lacing the broader gross-out gags.
Consistently offensive, and not in a way that should automatically be dismissed as 'edgy' or 'provocative'.
The film's writers understand that satire is infinitely more powerful when it's accessible
By now, what looked like good dirty fun, a funhouse mirror pointed at America, has calcified into easy shtick.
The publicity stunts for promoting The Dictator were funnier than the actual movie.
A sly/insightful portrait that the comedian has already painted, and re-painted, and painted again. How many examples of the same idea can he successfully convey on film?
While The Dictator may appear different than Borat and Brüno, it is very much the same idea as both films, packed with the same jokes and new ones that are more disturbing than they are hilarious.
Cohen remains a talented comedian. I like his anything-goes sense of humor. But, "The Dictator" feels like he was holding back to get people to like his character.
Where Borat had unsuspecting victims, The Dictaror is stuck with actors; the Candid Camera element erased. As is the shock value.
It doesn't have much to say about the character Cohen portrays or about how the world perceives that stereotype, which results in a paper thin but generally amusing little farce.
A few laughs here and there at the expense of offensive stereotypes, The Dictator mostly repeats jokes we've seen in other, better Sacha Baron Cohen films.
This is Cohen in a lightweight mood, taking very few chances, instead relying on only mildly irreverant humor.
While [Sacha Baron Cohen's] latest, ultra-hyped effort The Dictator has its fair share of disgusting, gross-out moments, perhaps the biggest shock is that it actually has a decent story and engaging characters.
A missed opportunity of global proportions.
What's shocking is the movie's finale, in which Baron Cohen -- as usual, fully committed to his character -- delivers a diatribe that's a satirical version of Charlie Chaplin's famous speech in The Great Dictator.
It doesn't expose stupidity. That's what Cohen has done absolutely wonderfully in the past with his other characters. Now he's just acting stupid, with only some funny results.
By this time, even Eve Ensler probably would support a movie and TV comedy moratorium on the use of the word 'vagina.'
Audience Reviews for The Dictator
Super Reviewer
Full review coming to themoviefreakblog.com on 7/5
Super Reviewer
Movies Like The Dictator
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- General Aladeen: I accept your job offer as general manager.
- Zoey: Well you can't be the manager because I'm the manager.
- General Aladeen: Well I can if I killed you.
-
- General Aladeen: Good morning Nadal! Wake up, Good Morning Nadal!
- Nadal: Waaaaaaaaaa!
- General Aladeen: Hello Nadal!
- Nadal: Oh that is weird!
-
- General Aladeen: Do you sell any assault rifles?
-
- General Aladeen: You promise not to steal again?
- Store Customer: I won't. I won't!
- General Aladeen: Give him one more for fun, Viktor.
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- General Aladeen: Don't worry. I am Wadiya's number one actor. You don't twin four Wadiyan Golden Globes for nothing.
- Nadal: Yes, you do, because you gave them to yourself!
- General Aladeen: My performance in Aladeen Jones and the Temple of Doom was outstanding.
- Nadal: I give it thumbs down.
- General Aladeen: Have you seen You've Got Mail Bomb?
- Nadal: Yes, I've seen them all! They're all terrible movies!
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- General Aladeen: I'm attracted to you in a really fucked up way.
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Foreign Titles
- Der Diktator (DE)
- The Dictator (UK)
