Kiwi director Lee Tamahori (Once Were Warriors, Die Another Day) helms the true story of the body double to the notorious Uday Hussein. Stars Dominic Cooper.
Based on a true story of money, power and opulent decadence, The Devil's Double delves deep into the lawless playground of excess and violence known as Bagdad, 1987. Summoned from the frontline to Saddam Hussein's palace, Iraqi army lieutenant Latif Yahia (Cooper) is thrust into the highest echelons of the 'royal family' when he’s ordered to become the 'fiday' – or body double – to Saddam's son, the notorious "Black Prince" Uday Hussein (also Cooper), a reckless, sadistic party-boy with a rabid hunger for sex and brutality.
Lee Tamahori is back in business with The Devil’s Double but which business is that, exactly? It’s not Once Were Warriors but thankfully it’s not Die Another Day, either. There is a bit of cross-dressing prostitute action but perhaps it’s best to let that pass without comment, since Uday Hussein’s personal life is lurid enough without dragging Tamahori’s into it.
Hussein’s excesses are what we’ve signed up to see, after all, and they’re nicely displayed here in a mix of violent cruelty, childish tantrums and black comedy. Dominic Cooper is good as Latif Yahia, but he’s just there to give the audience a viewpoint from which to see Dominic Cooper being great as Hussein. He excels in this role; a compelling performance that pushes his portrayal of Hussein to the limits of believability before anchoring the character in its core brutality.
Cooper has rightly been applauded for The Devil’s Double and boy is the film lucky to have him on board. He is easily the strongest thing here, given that the film makes odd choices in other areas - from the casting of charisma-free Ludivine Sagnier to the distractingly over-the-top colour grading that turns every inch of the screen orange. The pacing of the film lags too, something that would be more forgivable if it really did stick to true events. Instead, The Devil’s Double takes extensive liberties with the truth; not a problem in itself but meaning that it deserves to be a bit more thrilling and exciting than it is.
By Steve Newall, Flicks.co.nz
Dominic Cooper is electrifying yet stiff in The Devil's Double; he's simultaneously the film's biggest asset and its greatest flaw.
In keeping with the flamboyant clan of despots that were the Husseins, the drama is ultraviolent and over the top and made absolutely mesmerizing by Dominic Cooper's electrifying turn in both roles.
The movie is above all entertaining, if you enjoy human grotesquerie and flamboyant acting. Let's face it: Many of us do. There's a reason Hannibal Lecter remains the most popular villain in the movies.
A blistering, brutal Iraqi Scarface. You do wonder what the point of it all is, but Cooper is fantastic. Twice.
Undeniably fascinating as a visit to a world you'd never have wanted to have come near in real life -- that of the Hussein family's inner sanctum -- the film falls crucially short by not providing a window into the mind of the man who was coerced into acting as his double.
We've been told the NZ release date for this flick is Sunday, 1st Jan 2012.
Release date: January 1st 2012.
We haven't received times for this movie in this location yet. However these are updated as cinemas announce them, so check back soon. Hopefully the lovely cinemas in your location will choose to play it shortly. ~Ed.
