He’s the one who everybody secretly roots for; Sacha Baron Cohen is like that kid in school who says what everyone else in the class is thinking. He’s the one you watch in covert anticipation, waiting for more antics. In his latest film, Cohen takes political incorrectness to a whole new level. We follow General Aladeen of Wadiya, a composite character based on various figures of oppression, most obviously Saddam and Gaddafi. Aladeen falls into difficulty when his advisor Tamir (Sir Ben Kingsley) attempts to usurp his position with the help of the dictator’s look-alike body double. Times are made particularly hard for Aladeen when his beard is removed during torture in America leaving the Wadiyan dictator virtually unrecognisable and fighting to retain his leadership.
Somehow not only does Cohen illustrate our times perfectly with the odd Justin Bieber reference, an Apple store techie, and the sporting of a rather fetching US onesie; he also gets us rooting for ‘the beloved oppressor’. Particularly laugh-out-loud moments include Aladeen’s approach to rude customers – most notably an overweight boy in his friend Zoey’s (Anna Faris) shop – and a hilarious encounter with two tourists on a helicopter flight who are convinced of an impending terrorist attack. As ever, filmgoers will respond in one of two ways to this movie: either they will rant at the inappropriateness of it all or they will declare it complete genius. And despite its slightly controversial premise, this film is certainly clever, not only in terms of extracting comedy from an on-going political issue but also in terms of the questions Cohen prompts regarding the position of the US and the morality behind intervention to end dictatorships.
This is a comedy with an edge, thought-provoking in its own way but entertaining; backed up by performances from Anna Faris (Scary Movie 4, Friends Season 10) who takes on the cause-crazed, organic-loving feminist role brilliantly and Sir Ben Kingsley who sets Cohen up for his great comic moments. There’s even a Megan Fox cameo in there too. Funny, current and controversial once again: Cohen’s exceeded himself. It would seem no one’s safe from his ridicule. The big question is, who’s next?
