The Devil’s Double (Lee Tamahori, 2011): UK

Reviewed by Kathleen Amboy.  Viewed at Fiesta 5, Santa Barbara, CA.

  Bearing an uncanny resemblance to Uday Hussein (Dominic Cooper), Latif Yahia (also Dominic Cooper) is recruited from  Iraq’s military to perform as The Devil’s Double; body double for Saddam Hussein’s iniquitous firstborn.

Latif is a well-bred young man from an honorable local family, while Uday is a spoilt, compulsive neurotic, who snorts coke, abuses women, and is a little too in touch with his feelings towards his mother; he is evil incarnate.

Repulsed by threats against his family, Latif reluctantly agrees to undergo minor plastic surgery and dental procedures as part of a grooming process, in addition to mastering an act of conversely erratic and flamboyant behavior.

Uday compulsively abducts young girls for pleasure, then brutalizes them and eliminates the evidence.  He kills at whim anyone he finds annoying, including his father’s favorite food tester/bodyguard, as well as the accusing father of one of his victims.  Bearing witness to these criminal actions, Latif must double while Uday is on a bender, or during a potentially dangerous political appearance.

Latif quickly has his fill of Uday, and in order to escape the madness, he must ally himself with one of Uday’s many available women.

While the film is gripping from beginning to end, there are a few weak spots.  Namely, the story relies heavily on character development, and equally gives so much, yet so little – we are given vague examples of the work of the famed body doubles.  Likewise, situations occur which hint at Uday’s homosexuality and kinky relationship with his beloved mama, but remain shadowy at best.

Dominic Cooper’s dual performance of protagonist and antagonist is absolutely superb, and one of the best so far for 2011 – you might remember him as Howard Stark from Captain America:  The First Avenger – for this reason the film is worth viewing, and Tamahori must be given credit for his part.

 

 

 

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Published:
09.21.11 / 9pm
Category:
Films