Dear Dictator

The movie is mildly amusing. Mr. Caine probably did this for a couple of more reasons than the money. Considering the budget of the movie, he probably was only paid a fraction of what he normally gets these days. I suspect he is not offered a lot of roles these days as Hollywood lacks imagination to write roles for men his age and there is, as has always been, the continued ageism of Hollywood. Mr. Caine may also have been amused by the insight provided by the script into how revolutions are fomented and can even be used to get rid of the top clique in high school. Times change but that part of high school has not. There is ALWAYS a group that revels in making others feel inadequate and there is some voyeur satisfaction in seeing such a group taken down. Regarding my headline, I was expressing my love of Mr. Caine, both for his superb acting and the kind of man he is, intelligent and kind, one who has taken the time all his life to fight racism and other forms of inequality.

A comedy about a Dictator meeting his young female pen pal perhaps has the premise to be a fairly funny film, unfortunately this movie completely misses the mark. As much as I wanted to enjoy this film it simply is not funny and one has to wonder why Sir Michael Cane would find himself co-starring in such a poorly scripted and low budget film.

Michael Caine plays Anton Vincent, a dictator of a unnamed country, who is overthrown in a coup d'etat, escapes to America and secretly takes refuge in the home of his teenage pen-pal Tatiana (Odeya Rush) and her mother Darlene (Katie Holmes).

I came across this film by accident, was intrigued by its synopsis, so I decided to give it a try and was pleasantly surprised.

The film is not a blockbuster, it is low budget, and low on action, but it is well paced and enjoyable with good performances by its main stars. This is one to watch when you want a gentle film to fill an hour and a half of your time.

Not for everyone maybe, especially action lovers, but well worth a watch.

Tatiana Mills (Odeya Rush) is an American suburban teen. Her single mom Darlene (Katie Holmes) is having an affair with her married dentist boss Dr Charles Seaver (Seth Green) with a foot fetish. The whale-tailed mean girls at school call themselves the Slushies. She has a crush on her Christian friend Denny. Her social studies teacher Mr Spines (Jason Biggs) give the class an assignment to write to a pen pal. She picks ruthless Latin American dictator Anton Vincent (Michael Caine). When American backed rebels overtake his country, he finds his way into Tatiana's garage.

It's a wacky Mean Girls take with a bloody dictator. I'm a little leery of Caine as a Latin American dictator. Rush is a pretty good standard grumpy teen. There are a lot of wackiness but it rarely results in laughs. There are some moments of surprise laughs, mostly with Rush and Caine together. I really like that combo. I do wish for taking on more risk and pushing more comedy into the movie. It does help that I like both Rush and Caine.

This film tells the story of a dictator hiding in an American teenage girl's suburban home.

The story is quite far fetched, and I guess that is the charm of the film. Initially I thought even Michael Caine acted poorly, but then I realise he was just in character. It is quite a fun, and hilarious film that provides brain off entertainment.