The Dictator (2012)
Average Rating: 5.9/10
Reviews Counted: 207
Fresh: 119 | Rotten: 88
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.
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Average Rating: 3.1/5
User Ratings: 160,935
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
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Cast
-
Sacha Baron Cohen
Aladeen/Efawadh, Genera... -
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 Beltran
Virgin Guard -
Aja Frary
Virgin Guard -
Naz Homa
Virgin Guard -
Elsayed Mohamed
Wadiyan Olympic Officia... -
Fred Melamed
Head Nuclear Scientist -
Sean T. Krishnan
Waiter/Cereal Loving So... -
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 Wife -
Zachary Mackiewicz
Health Inspector's Son -
J.B. Smoove
Funeral Usher, Usher -
Hollis Granville
Eldridge Douglas -
Ann Dev'Unay
Mourner -
Sondra James
Friendly Customer -
Tara Copeland
Mom Shopping with Toddl... -
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 Window -
Nasim Pedrad
Female GMW -
Mousa Kraish
Wadiyan Soldier -
Neimah Djourabchi
Wadiyan Soldier -
Sevan Greene
Wadiyan Soldier -
Nadav Malmud
Wadiyan Soldier -
Fred North
Helicopter Pilot (NYC) -
Fred Hanna
Helicopter Pilot (NYC) -
William Richards
Helicopter Pilot -
Marc Wolff
Helicopter Pilot (Spain... -
Cordell King
Helicopter Ground Crewp... -
Chris Elliot
Mr. Ogden -
Megan Fox
Megan Fox -
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The Dictator Trailer & Photos
All Critics (208) | Top Critics (43) | Fresh (119) | Rotten (88) | 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.
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.'
The danger for Baron Cohen is having made his name as a confrontational comedian but delivering something that, while occasionally provocative, feels too conventional.
Both the laughter and the satire had crawled off and quietly died.
Audience Reviews for The Dictator
Super Reviewer
The Dictator is a comedy that relies on the same tactics as Sacha Baron Cohen's other movies. Mainly these tactics are create a completely ridiculous character, add a lot of gross out humor, and make it as politically incorrect as possible. As far as the movie goes, it works, but just barely. There's nothing here that would make me feel the need to see this again, but there was enough laughs to make a viewing worth it. It may be nothing more than just another average comedy, but Cohen makes average seem just a little better.
General Aladeen has been the dictator of his country of Widiya since the age of seven. He enjoys having people executed and also having sex with famous American stars. When he must give a speech at the UN or face military action, he makes his way to America, alongside his trusted advisor. His advisor has other plans though and soon Aladeen is replaced with a double so that democracy can be brought to the country and corporations with oil interests can take it over.
The Dictator is a slight step up from Bruno in my opinion, but just a slight step. The movie has hilarious moments that are somewhat forgotten in the mess of missed jokes, but they're there all the same. It's a movie that appeal to fans of Cohen's form of comedy, but also will repel a great number of people with what some would call a tasteless form of comedy.
Overall, this is nothing too great, but it's a somewhat fun time and the short runtime makes it easier to get through. It's a movie that you can just turn on when there's nothing better to do. It's stupid, it's raunchy, it's gross, and in ways it is tasteless. Good thing I'm not one of those people who really care about any of that stuff.
Super Reviewer
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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.
-
- 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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Featured
Movie: ID: 771219982 Title: The Dictator Release Date: 2012-05-16 00:00:00.0 MPAA: 4 Status: 1
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Top Headlines
Foreign Titles
- Der Diktator (DE)
- The Dictator (UK)
