The Dictator – BANNED & UNRATED (and pretty unfunny)

Just out on DVD, The Dictator (The Dictator – BANNED & UNRATED Version) doesn’t represent funnyman Sacha Baron Cohen (Borat, Bruno) at his best. Even the extended, unrated version can’t redeem this movie, which comes off as a funny skit that goes on for far too long.  The extended cut adds about 20 minutes, but that’s not a good thing. In fact, the 83-minute theatrical version could have even used some trimming since it takes a good 15 minutes of nonsense before the movie really gets rolling.

The film centers on Admiral General Shabazz Aladeen (Cohen), the dictator of Widiya, a North African Republic.  The story gets going once Shabazz flies to New York where he intends to address the UN Council. When he gets to the States, however, Clayton (John C. Reilly) immediately kidnaps Shabazz, intending to torture him to death. Clayton shaves Shabazz’s beard but, before he can kill him, the admiral escapes. Problem is, his uncle Tamir (Ben Kingsley) has put a double body in Shabazz’s place and the admiral general now has to fend for himself.

He first befriends a radical feminist (Anna Faris) and convinces her to give him a job in her health food store. She gives in, and Shabazz starts plotting how he can return to power. Jokes about September 11th, masturbation and child abuse aren’t just insensitive; they’re also not very funny. The extras on the DVD include several deleted scenes. In one, Shabazz delivers a woman’s baby on the spur of the moment and has to shove his fist up inside of her. In another, he sits through a ridiculous interview with Larry King (who plays along with the joke). Most of the deleted scenes deserved to be deleted, though we did get a kick out of seeing King keep a straight-face as Shabazz made one outrageous proclamation after another before asking for Piers Morgan to replace King.

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