Friday, December 30, 2011

The Devil's Double- Yes, comparisons to 'Scarface' are almost certain, but overall, it's a fairly unique film. Dominic Cooper does a good job portraying the psychopath of Saddam Hussein's son Uday, which makes most of the film. It's an intriguing concept. A look-alike type 'Prince and the Pauper' story cept' it never truly goes where you want it to go (I'm guessing that's because it's "based on a true story", though it obviously takes quite a few liberties). Throughout the film, Uday is sadistic human being, killing, raping, and pillaging in any which ay he wants to, while Cooper's better-half character, Latif Yahia, basically just sits there with his arms crossed and goes, "I don't like it". I mean, it's nice that we have such a protagonist in a film that mainly focuses on its antagonist, but honestly, it might sound wrong, but I would have been more interested in Latif slowly becoming Uday, the man he hates but must act like, over just hating him the whole movie. I mean, if you are going to take liberties with history, might as well, right? Not to say it's bad, I actually liked this one quite a bit. I just wish there was more conflict in the hero's mind than "this is right, this is wrong".



- Jeff Bassin