"OK. I'm there."
The Dictator lacks the warmth and pathos of Borat but is more likable than Bruno, and whilst there are quite a few tumbleweed moments, the film is generally entertaining. Taking on a more standard traditional broad comedy movie format than the previous two films, here the jokes are mostly smaller and less situational, relying mostly on quick verbal and visual gags that make The Dictator fly past. Baron Cohen is reliable but it does feel like we have been here before, Anna Faris amps up the comedy volume as far as she possibly can, and Sir Ben Kingsley's presence is inexplicable. Some of the humour is of questionable taste, which is precisely why Baron Cohen's films are so popular, yet there is some genuinely effective and well-aimed satire of Middle-Eastern despots and - in a remarkably barbed finale - American values. Whilst The Dictator is passable entertainment, it has to be asked: how many more 'comedy foreigners' can Sacha Baron Cohen get away with?
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