The Dictator

2012, Comedy, 1h 23m

224 Reviews 100,000+ Ratings

What to know

critics consensus

Wildly uneven but consistently provocative, The Dictator is a decent entry in the poli-slapstick comedy genre. Read critic reviews

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The Dictator Videos

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Movie Info

Gen. Aladeen (Sacha Baron Cohen) has ruled the oil-rich North African country of Wadiya since the age of six, when 97 stray bullets and a hand grenade killed his father in a hunting accident. After an assassination attempt takes the life of yet another body-double, Tamir (Ben Kingsley), Aladeen's uncle and most trusted adviser, convinces Aladeen to go to New York. Unfortunately, Aladeen has a less-than-friendly reception from exiled Wadiyans, who want their country freed from his despotic rule.

Cast & Crew

Sacha Baron Cohen
Gen. Aladeen, Efawadh
Anna Faris
Zoey
Ben Kingsley
Tamir
Jason Mantzoukas
Nadal
Kevin Corrigan
Slade
Megan Fox
Self
Fred Armisen
Waiter, Minister
Sayed Badreya
Omar
Aasif Mandvi
Doctor
Chris Parnell
News Anchor
Bobby Lee
Mr. Lao
Mitchell Green
Joteph
Anna Katarina
Angela Merkel
Jessica St. Clair
Denise
Larry Charles
Director
Sacha Baron Cohen
Screenwriter
Alec Berg
Screenwriter
David Mandel
Screenwriter
Jeff Schaffer
Screenwriter
Sacha Baron Cohen
Producer
Alec Berg
Producer
David Mandel
Producer
Jeff Schaffer
Producer
Anthony Hines
Producer
Scott Rudin
Producer
Todd Schulman
Producer
Peter Baynham
Executive Producer
Mari-Jo Winkler
Executive Producer
Dan Mazer
Executive Producer
Adam McKay
Executive Producer
Lawrence Sher
Cinematography
Victor Kempster
Production Design
Greg Hayden
Film Editing
Eric Kissack
Film Editing
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Critic Reviews for The Dictator

All Critics (224) | Top Critics (65) | Fresh (127) | Rotten (97)
Full Review… Deborah Ross The Spectator Full Review… J. Hoberman Tablet Full Review… Jenny McCartney Daily Telegraph (UK) Full Review… David Denby New Yorker Full Review… Donald Clarke Irish Times Full Review… Joe Morgenstern Wall Street Journal Full Review… James Croot Stuff.co.nz Full Review… Owen Nicholls NME Full Review… Mike Massie Gone With The Twins Full Review… Richard Propes TheIndependentCritic.com Full Review… Matthew Lucas The Dispatch (Lexington, NC) Full Review… Micheal Compton Bowling Green Daily News
View All Critic Reviews (224)

Audience Reviews for The Dictator

  • Aug 19, 2015
    Niaiseux à fond, mais drôle. très divertissant.
    Marc-André B Super Reviewer
  • Oct 05, 2013
    "Why are you guys so anti-dictatorship? Imagine if America was a dicatatorship! You could let 1% of the people have all the nation's wealth. You could help your rich friends get richer by cutting their taxes and bailing them out when they gamble and lose. You could ignore the needs of the poor for health-care and education. Your media would appear free; but would secretly be controlled by one person and his family. You could wire-tape phones. You could torture foreign prisoners. You could have rigged elections. You could lie about why you go to war. You could fill your prisons with one particular racial group and no one would complain. You could use the media to scare the people into supporting policies that are against their interests. I knew this is hard for you Americans to imagine, but please: try!" Political "satires" about dictators seem to end with a memorable speech. Even if Sacha went unscripted and went full-throttle against the American "dream" and the illusionary concept of democracy in modernity, the entire formula falls into sixth grade humor and significantly disturbing pacing issues. So what pushed the rating up? The final speech all right. Whenever America (America means the U.S., right? Haha, like if U.S. now represented an entire continent's name) is called the birth place of AIDS and the perfect illustration of dictatorship, I'm sorry, but my rating will be pushed up. That speech magically fixed like so many flaws in a rather atrocious film. 51/100
    Edgar C Super Reviewer
  • Aug 20, 2013
    Unwatchable. And I love Sacha movies.
    Curtis L Super Reviewer
  • Aug 09, 2013
    Sacha Baron Cohen really tries to extend the shock factor to create comedy, but the method has worked thin and has made me lose interest in his next project.
    Nicolas K Super Reviewer
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