Sacha Baron Cohen created one of the all-time best comedic characters ever to grace movie screens with 2006's
Borat, and made me laugh uncomfortably loud during 2009's
Bruno. Since then, Cohen has remained busy with supporting roles (including a part in the Academy-award winning film
Hugo), but
The Dictator marks not only his return to the spotlight, alongside his fellow writer and director Larry Charles (
Seinfeld,
Religulous), but also a whole slew of often unfunny in-character talk show appearances (am I wrong in thinking 'poor Ryan Seacrest'?). When this project was first announced I was hoping that it would follow suit with the last two outings and place Cohen in real situations, in a "prank" styled mockumentary - but with a watch of the trailer it's obvious that that concept would be abandoned for a straightforward narrative film. Cohen states in interviews that it's because people are now too keen on his shenanigans for him to pull it off again. I still had high hopes for this movie though, hoping perhaps that Cohen might again be able to provide big laughs while providing some social commentary. Unfortunately, it all just ends up falling flat, like a soda that's been sitting in a car too long.
The Dictator is filled with raunchy jokes, and even though they follow that "shock the audience" formula that made the other outings so hilarious, the whole thing still almost feels "safe." And the social commentary that Cohen is known for feels really forced and inorganic to the movie. Part of this might be attributed to the fact that you aren't getting "real" people in this movie. Whereas in
Borat or
Bruno, the social commentary came straight from Cohen's brilliant social experiments,
The Dictator force-feeds us the "lessons" and it comes off really preachy. Although there are moments in this movie that really shine (such as the helicopter scene seen in the trailer), it just felt muddled and lacking. Many of the jokes were already shown in the trailer, and I was constantly thinking in my head that it might get better...but it never did.
Rating: C-
One of my favorite movies of 2009 was the very under-the-radar flick
World's Greatest Dad. Directed by
Police Academy star Bobcat Goldthwait, the film gave Robin Williams one of his best roles in a long, long time, and I just clicked with its dark and twisted, yet comical tone. So when I heard of
God Bless America, Goldthwait's follow up to
World's Greatest Dad, I was stoked, especially upon hearing that it was about a guy going on a killing spree, only killing the biggest jerks in America, like reality TV stars and unappreciative spoiled rich kids. It was a great concept, but much like
The Dictator, it ended up becoming too preachy and there was not enough story to latch on to.
Again, similarly to
The Dictator,
God Bless America was not without its moments. I enjoyed the fake TV shows that obviously resemble certain reality shows, and there are some moments of violence (especially one towards the very beginning) that are quite shocking. I do have to say though, some of the blood effects feature really bad CGI, which there's no real excuse for; I don't care how "indie" this is, I think you can afford some fake blood. I also liked the two main actors (although their dialogue left a LOT to be desired), who I thought kept a strange, yet believable chemistry. If you want to watch the cinematic equivalent of a 50 year old ranting on and on about how reality TV is terrible with some awkward dialogue and somewhat enjoyable sequences of shooting sprinkled in, have a blast. I just wished that it had more of what made
World's Greatest Dad so great: a story.
Rating: C-
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