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, Ben Kingsley, Anna Faris

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 | oil | hotel | democracy | general | 

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Genres:

Comedy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong crude and sexual content, brief male nudity, language and some violent images

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [France]

Country:

USA

Language:

English Hebrew

Release Date:

16 May 2012 (USA)

Also Known As:

El dictador

Filming Locations:

7 West 30th Street, New York, 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

The government house is modeled after Argentina's Pink House.

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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: You seem educated.
Zoey: Yes, I went to Amherst.
General Aladeen: I love it when women go to school. It's like seeing a monkey on rollerskates. It means nothing to them, but it's so adorable for us.

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Crazy Credits

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

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Connections

References Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)

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Soundtracks

"Our Beloved Leader"
(uncredited)
Performed by The Aladeenies

User Reviews

A welcome change

I'm a little perplexed having read a couple of user reviews - one of them said this was movie was unbelievable and unconvincing due to the fact that it had a love theme going on? huh? I suppose the film 'A Nightmare on Elm Street' is unbelievable too? In fact, how many movies are believable? 'The Dictator' is a comedy, nothing less and nothing more than that, and that was the intention. Whether it's believable or not is irrelevant. The movie had plenty of laugh out loud moments.

I'm glad this movie headed in a different direction from his previous efforts. Had the film continued in the same fashion as the reality TV way, then I don't think it would have stood any chance of working, not with this new character anyway. So to those who are expecting and hoping for something similar to Bruno and Borat you may be left a little disappointed, but for those who wouldn't mind seeing something slightly different, and can take a movie for what it is, then you should enjoy this, as I did.