Reviewed May 2012
It neither has the subtlety nor the attention to detail one might expect of a biopic and runs along as a thrill ride concocted from the mind of some over-the-top fiction writer where the focus is more on the sleazy and gory details than the emotional side of its characters. But the last word is that it entertains.
Uday Saddam Hussein (Dominic Cooper) needs no introduction as his reputation is well documented. What this movie intends to show is the perspective of his Fiday (body double), Latif Yahia (also played by Dominic Cooper). In the monarchical Iraq where eccentric Uday has no bounds to his sadistic ways, Latif a soldier of the Republican Guard is identified and offered a position as his body double without a choice. Uday and his team introduces Latif to an ultra luxurious lifestyle with quite a few tight strings attached. Latif is forbidden to contact his family and soon grows tired of Uday's antics and atrocities. All along, Sarrab (Ludivine Sagnier) a mistress Uday is quite fond of gets close to Latif and both dreams of life free from Uday's clutches. One day, Latif thinks enough is enough and does the unthinkable and the consequences are supposed to be history.
The script definitely would have taken the liberty of manipulating quite a few facts for dramatic or commercial or fill-in-the-blank purposes and anyone watching the movie for historical accuracy may get disappointed. Where it succeeds is the flamboyance with which Dominic Cooper portrays the eccentric Uday Hussein and the same measured held back performance while playing Latif. Also it induces quite a few comic touches and add in a lot of nudity, vulgarity and gore the elements that are closely associated with Uday and they are the same elements that makes a product commercially viable too. No major incident reported in the history is handled with the gravity of its impact instead takes the spectacle route. Certain facts are contrived and some emotions are just laughable for a biopic, but hey who knows what was cooking in Uday's mind, he might have reacted in the exact same way. Uday was shown mostly as an immature, mindless nut with a lot of comic histrionics and unpredictable temper. There is a pattern here as I have seen a BBC biography on Uday which is handled in the exact same way as this movie, a contrast with the rest of their work.
Having said all that, what finally mattered was its ability to grab my attention by bribing me with guilty fun. Do not watch it for serious cinema, there is a lighter side to the worst of elements.
It neither has the subtlety nor the attention to detail one might expect of a biopic and runs along as a thrill ride concocted from the mind of some over-the-top fiction writer where the focus is more on the sleazy and gory details than the emotional side of its characters. But the last word is that it entertains.
Uday Saddam Hussein (Dominic Cooper) needs no introduction as his reputation is well documented. What this movie intends to show is the perspective of his Fiday (body double), Latif Yahia (also played by Dominic Cooper). In the monarchical Iraq where eccentric Uday has no bounds to his sadistic ways, Latif a soldier of the Republican Guard is identified and offered a position as his body double without a choice. Uday and his team introduces Latif to an ultra luxurious lifestyle with quite a few tight strings attached. Latif is forbidden to contact his family and soon grows tired of Uday's antics and atrocities. All along, Sarrab (Ludivine Sagnier) a mistress Uday is quite fond of gets close to Latif and both dreams of life free from Uday's clutches. One day, Latif thinks enough is enough and does the unthinkable and the consequences are supposed to be history.
The script definitely would have taken the liberty of manipulating quite a few facts for dramatic or commercial or fill-in-the-blank purposes and anyone watching the movie for historical accuracy may get disappointed. Where it succeeds is the flamboyance with which Dominic Cooper portrays the eccentric Uday Hussein and the same measured held back performance while playing Latif. Also it induces quite a few comic touches and add in a lot of nudity, vulgarity and gore the elements that are closely associated with Uday and they are the same elements that makes a product commercially viable too. No major incident reported in the history is handled with the gravity of its impact instead takes the spectacle route. Certain facts are contrived and some emotions are just laughable for a biopic, but hey who knows what was cooking in Uday's mind, he might have reacted in the exact same way. Uday was shown mostly as an immature, mindless nut with a lot of comic histrionics and unpredictable temper. There is a pattern here as I have seen a BBC biography on Uday which is handled in the exact same way as this movie, a contrast with the rest of their work.
Having said all that, what finally mattered was its ability to grab my attention by bribing me with guilty fun. Do not watch it for serious cinema, there is a lighter side to the worst of elements.