Sunday, January 22, 2012

The Devil's Double (2011)

Directed by: Lee Tamahori
Starring: Dominic Cooper

Prior to the first Gulf War (1990 for you history buffs) an Iraqi soldier by the name of Latif Yahia was chosen to go to work for Uday Hussein, the psychopathic, narcissistic son of Saddam. Actually, a more fitting term would be that Latif was forced to go to work for Uday, as his body double. At first, Latif rejects the offer, but changes his mind after being beaten and his family threatened. This biopic film of Latif Yahia digs (not very far, unfortunately) in to the nightmare that Yahia lived through.

The storyline of this film alone would be enough to make it a great film. Unfortunately, it misses the mark on everything except the leading role(s) of Latif and Uday both played by Dominic Cooper. While the film is eye-opening, and gives a little bit of back-story to the sadistic nature of the Hussein regime, the narrative jumps around too much and is far from factually accurate. Cooper's acting skills are the only thing that makes this film (barely) watchable.

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