THE
DEVILS DOUBLE
by Kudos, Nigel Hare & Michael Haywood
by Kudos, Nigel Hare & Michael Haywood
MICHAEL HAYWOOD
So I finally got around to watching the oft debated and much recommended film "The Devil's Double."
I knew the story of Uday Saddam Hussein before watching the film and had seen a documentary or two about his sadistic psychotic nature. I'd also seen interviews and things with Latif Yahia so kinda knew what this film would entail. What I didn't expect was what a great job Dominic Cooper would do in both roles. He seemed to have a way of flicking from one character to the other and yet keeping each identifiable and separate. Yes they look alike but you can just tell which is which. The film isn't for the feint hearted. It's brutal at times, deals with dark subject matter in an unflinching way and the protagonist is a heartless, sadistic, sick and twisted individual who exemplifies all that is wrong with corruption and power of dictators and despots. It's a tale made more horrifying because it's based on truth. The film is a strong 7/10 with decent performances, if you get chance to watch it then you should, but know what's coming!
I knew the story of Uday Saddam Hussein before watching the film and had seen a documentary or two about his sadistic psychotic nature. I'd also seen interviews and things with Latif Yahia so kinda knew what this film would entail. What I didn't expect was what a great job Dominic Cooper would do in both roles. He seemed to have a way of flicking from one character to the other and yet keeping each identifiable and separate. Yes they look alike but you can just tell which is which. The film isn't for the feint hearted. It's brutal at times, deals with dark subject matter in an unflinching way and the protagonist is a heartless, sadistic, sick and twisted individual who exemplifies all that is wrong with corruption and power of dictators and despots. It's a tale made more horrifying because it's based on truth. The film is a strong 7/10 with decent performances, if you get chance to watch it then you should, but know what's coming!
Based
on a true story about Saddam Hussein’s son, Uday and the man forced
to be his body double Latif , both parts played by one actor, Dominic
Cooper. He portrays Uday as tyrant, devoid of any empathy or
humanity, a narcissists who takes what ever he desires, women, girls
even lives without an ounce of regret or remorse, in fact the more
extreme the damage he does the more joy he gets out of it. This could
be too dark to watch but Dominic wraps it all up in a clown like
performance that reminded me of Heath ledgers Joker, some lines will
make you laugh and feel guilty about it, a joy to watch even though
you wont enjoy what he does.
Latif is a less complex character, a man blackmailed and beaten into sharing years of his life with this power corrupted psychopath.
The film has some shocking scenes, some you see with your eyes others are left for you own head to play with, the language is vicious at times and it is not for the prudish but none of it is unnecessary.
It
is an intoxicating tale that will take you too some very dark places
but Dominic Coopers Uday is highly addictive to watch, he should have
got best lead and best support for these roles, the fact he was
completely ignored by the Oscars say more about them than it does
about this masterpiece in acting.
Looking at imbd reviews, not seen any other film get so many 10/10s and now has another one
NIGEL HARE
This is the third time I have started this review. It was a hard movie to watch and that is making it a hard movie to review. It lacks beauty. Beauty in landscape, opulent lifestyle and even the good guys is hard to find. The main subject of the movie is the sex addicted, drug addled, son of a dictator with no regard for anyone but his own instant pleasure. There in lays the problem with the movie no one could like the young hussain even his own ...father who at one point wants to chop off his genitals. In all honesty you wished Saddam would as I'm sure many were punished in such a way under his regime. It show how good the star acted in the roles of the both the sadist son and his double with no attempt to humanise the beast. It is just this performance that keeps you watching what is a very depressing and nasty little film. It lacks any subtlety or nuance that was found in Caligula. This movie is watchable but will leave you with a bad taste.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1270262/
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