That is, until today.
I've also only walked out of the cinema once. That was during the film Spy Game when both me and my friend had no idea what was going on so we just left. I don't like to make a habit of walking out of a film before it's complete or trashing films completely, but The Dictator is unfortunately going to be the latter.
If you are bothered, the film follows the fictional country of Wadiya's Dictator leader, Aladeen (Sacha Baron Cohen) as he makes his first trip to America to address the UN about their concerns of his country's nuclear weapons programme. When he gets there, he is double-crossed by his aide, Tamir (Ben Kingsley) and replaced with a double, so Wadiya can be made into a Democracy and Tamir can sell the oil and land rights to other countries in order to make a healthy profit. While he tries to get his beloved country back, Aladeen meets Zoey (Anna Faris) a vegan third world and civil rights loving American citizen, who he falls in love with.
The problem with any Sacha Baron Cohen film (Ali G, Borat, Bruno and now, The Dictator) is that you have to fall into a certain demographic to find it even remotely funny. If you are not a pre-pubescent boy, who has barely even kissed a girl or had a sniff of a relationship and still immature enough to find bodily functions funny, then films by Sacha Baron Cohen are just a waste of time.
The problem with The Dictator is that it fails to find any kind of audience, as jokes about third world countries, politics and dictator leaderships are lost on pre-pubescent boys who want to see boobs and fart jokes. But, the film is far too unintelligent to make worthwhile jokes about third world countries, politics and dictator leaderships to appeal to an older and more mature audience. The film features a fair few digs at American politicians, but then in the next scene it has two of Aladeen's female "Virgin Guards" kissing and getting naked - a group of 15 year old boys actually groaned when the boobs were cut off the screen so you couldn't see anything (another example of the film failing to appeal to it's primary audience!!)
The truth is, I didn't really laugh properly once during The Dictator. I chuckled, I even smiled once or twice, but most of the time it was so boring and stupid that I found myself wanting the film to end.
Now, I know what Sacha Baron Cohen films are like, as I am sure many of you are who are even remotely aware of his previous films. But, the fact is, there are only so many times that you can be so offensive and still be found funny.
I fondly remember the days at school where we would all impersonate Ali G. I remember laughing a lot during the first screening of Borat, but it hadn't held up well on repeat viewings. I didn't even watch Bruno because the previews did nothing for me. To be honest, I only watched The Dictator because I have a cinema pass where I can see as many films as I want.
The fact of the matter is, is that Sacha Baron Cohen has just lost it. He was, really, a one-hit-wonder with Ali G and started to push it with Borat. Anything after that and it's just a bunch of uninspired mess.
If you like weak comedy about American politics/culture while having boobs, lesbian, farts and vagina jokes thrown in between, then The Dictator is right up your street. Anyone who has a resemblance of a brain and idea of comedy should give this film a wide berth.
½ / *****
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