The Dictator (2012)

The heroic story of a dictator who risks his life to ensure that democracy would never come to the country he so lovingly oppressed.

Director:

Larry Charles

Writers:

Sacha Baron Cohen, Alec Berg,

Stars:

Sacha Baron Cohen, Anna Faris, John C. Reilly

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sacha Baron Cohen	...	Aladeen / Efawadh
Sayed Badreya	...	Omar
Rocky Citron	...	Baby Aladeen
Liam Campora	...	Aladeen Age 6
Aasif Mandvi	...	Doctor
Rizwan Manji	...	Patient
Rick Chambers	...	Newscaster Voiceover (voice)
Elsayed Mohamed	...	Wadiyan Olympic Official
Adeel Akhtar	...	Maroush
Horatio Sanz	...	Aide on Balcony
Ben Kingsley	...	Tamir
Elena Goode	...	Virgin Guard
Nazanin Homa	...	Virgin Guard (as Naz Homa)
Dawn Jackson	...	Virgin Guard (as Dawn Zimniak)
Victoria Beltran	...	Virgin Guard

Storyline

The Republic of Wadiya is ruled by an eccentric and oppressive leader named Hafez Aladeen. Aladeen is summoned to New York to a UN assembly to address concerns about his country's nuclear weapons program, but the trip goes awry.

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Plot Keywords:

dictator | hotel | oil | nuclear weapons | general | 

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

14A

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [France]

Country:

USA

Language:

English Hebrew

Release Date:

16 May 2012 (Canada)

Also Known As:

El dictador

Filming Locations:

7 West 30th Street, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$65,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$17,435,092 (USA) (18 May 2012)

Gross:

$59,617,068 (USA) (20 July 2012)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures, Four by Two Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

83 min 99 min (unrated)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital Datasat SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Sacha Baron Cohen wanted to shoot scenes in the actual United Nations building but was denied access. Baron Cohen claims the official explanation given to him was "we represent a lot of dictators, and they are going to be very angry by this portrayal of them, so you can't shoot in there." When asked about Baron Cohen's claims, a spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon only responded by saying "Sacha Baron Cohen has a wonderful sense of humor."

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Goofs

When Aladeen is standing on the bridge, there is a safety rail in the close shots. When the camera switches to wide angle shots, there is no rail present.

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Quotes

General Aladeen: [addressing his citizens] People of Wadiya! I come here before you to tell the world that they shall bow down before our mighty nation! We are two months away from enriching weapons grade uranium!
[audience applauds]
General Aladeen: To be used for peaceful...
[holds laughter]
General Aladeen: purposes! It will be used for medical research and clean energy, it will! And it will certainly never be used to attack Isr...
[laughs]
General Aladeen: Oh boy!

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Crazy Credits

Extra scenes during the end credits, including making-of moments.

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Connections

Features Forrest Gump (1994)

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Soundtracks

The Pearl in My Heart
Written & Performed by Hossam Ramzy
Courtesy of Arc Music Prod. Int. Ltd.

User Reviews

Great!

One of the funniest movies I know! There are so many good jokes based on what's happening in the world. If you read the news on a daily basis and know what's going on in the world you'll like this movie. Some people may not like Cohen but I think he's a genius. It really takes something to show the problems that we have in a funny way. However you should really go and watch that movie, it's worth the money. I personally watched it twice in theater. Now I really don't know what to write anymore without giving away any jokes because the jokes come one after another. I was already laughing out loud after one minute. It's really cool if you watch a movie in theater and everyone in the room is laughing. So my definitive final conclusion is that The Dictator is more than a movie, it's an experience ;)