The Dictator

Name: The Dictator
Genre: Comedy
Released: May 16, 2012
Duration: 83 min
Rating: 58
Cast: Anna Faris, Ben Kingsley, John C. Reilly, Sacha Baron Cohen

2012

METASCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 41 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 519 Ratings

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6.4

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6.4	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 519 Ratings

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The Dictator

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Movie Details & Credits

Paramount Pictures | Release Date: May 16, 2012 | R

Starring: Anna Faris, Ben Kingsley, John C. Reilly, Sacha Baron Cohen

Summary: The film tells the heroic story of a dictator who risked his life to ensure that democracy would never come to the country he so lovingly oppressed. It is inspired by the best selling novel "Zabibah and The King" by Saddam Hussein. (Paramount Pictures)

Director: Larry Charles

Genre(s): Comedy

Rating: R

Runtime: 83 min

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Critic Reviews

Movieline Stephanie Zacharek

May 15, 2012

The Dictator, for all its liberal leanings, doesn't let anyone off the hook, not even well-intentioned liberals. Cohen comes right out and says things that most of us, in polite conversation, wouldn't dare. He knows it's the impolite conversation that really gets things moving. Read full review

Richard Corliss

May 11, 2012

Fans of the nasty Baron Cohen may regret his being borderline nice in The Dictator. But we should welcome his decision to stop being the best at something few others dare try and instead to inhabit a more familiar comedy style--just going denser, wilder, better. He pulls it off. Read full review

Steven Rea

May 16, 2012

Mixes its high and low comedy with surprising success. Read full review

Michael Phillips

May 11, 2012

Cohen at his best is both brazen and sly. As is The Dictator. Read full review

Shawn Levy

May 15, 2012

The Dictator has a few laughs along its bumpy path, but not enough of them to indicate that Cohen has found a means to escape the shadows of his early career and forge a second act for himself. Read full review

Wesley Morris

May 14, 2012

You're left with an inert, politically neutral movie, a satire that can't bring itself to properly satirize anything. Read full review

Ann Hornaday

May 14, 2012

Even amid the hit-and-miss broadsides and laugh-free longueurs that comprise most of The Dictator, Cohen's acute hypocrisy-detector keeps on ticking, if barely. Read full review

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User Reviews

Wesshole

May 20, 2012

Haha, all people beneath me are hating the movie... I liked it very much tough, just laughing, not the best plot ever, but i can live with that!! not every movie can be the green mile or something. and of course its stupid sometimes, but Sacha Baron Cohen's face makes a lot good.

10 of 16 users found this helpful106

Channelitos

Oct 5, 2012

The movie is very good, has all this black humor that I love and when you go to the movies, you know what you're gonna see. Shacha Baron Cohen is a hilarious actor.

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

Noobly

Sep 1, 2012

Very funny! I cant understand the hate this kept me soo entertained while watching
No sad parts, No Bad guy parts, just plain funny and I couldent stop laughing

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

movielover55

May 28, 2012

the start is a little weird and hard to understand but the rest is hilarious you will laugh until you cant laugh anymore you must see it. i loced ecery moement one of the best comedy movies to see

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

Zilcell

Nov 4, 2012

Yes, it is both funny and offensive. I appreciate the execution of this idea. Its much better executed than "You Don't Mess with the Zohan", but too many scenes in this comedy fall flat, and there isn't enough plot to compensate for this.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

TheDRauch

Aug 28, 2012

While it is understandably hard to recreate the success of Borat, Sacha Baron Cohen hits less of a note of focused political insight hidden within doses of raunchiness and more of a note of gross out, juvenile, broad, hit-and-miss jokes that recall a mix of Charlie Chaplin's 'The GreatWhile it is understandably hard to recreate the success of Borat, Sacha Baron Cohen hits less of a note of focused political insight hidden within doses of raunchiness and more of a note of gross out, juvenile, broad, hit-and-miss jokes that recall a mix of Charlie Chaplin's 'The Great Dictator' and 'You Don't Mess with the Zohan'. While there are some admittedly funny bits (holding hands romantically inside of a pregnant woman giving birth, a terrorist misunderstanding in a helicopter, and a clever speech about democracies and dictatorships, for example), most of the film has an air of mean-spiritedness and when the jokes miss, they miss by a mile. While Sacha Baron Cohen seems more dedicated to craft than the average funny-man, 'The Dictator' winds up being just a comedic vehicle running on empty.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

gunnyart

May 30, 2012

No redeeming quality whatsoever! I should have known better than to give a Cohen movie another shot. The only positive thing I can say about it is... It's his best movie yet. The bar is just set so low.

0 of 2 users found this helpful02

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31	#31 Most Discussed Movie of 2012
42	#42 Most Shared Movie of 2012