With his dictatorship of Wadiya, North Africa under threat, sleazy Admiral Shabazz Aladeen (Sacha Baron Cohen) travels to New York City to confront the United Nations Security Council. Upon his arrival, however, he is kidnapped by hitman Clayton (John C. Reilly), whose uncle Tamir (Kingsley) has a plot to get at the oil Aladeen has kept tied up in his territory.
Tamir's plan sees him replace Aladeen with dimwitted doppelganger Efawadh (also Cohen), who he intends to manipulate into doing his bidding.
The deposed dictator is determined to regain control of Wadiya, but could falling in love with American activist Zoe (Anna Faris) mellow his wicked ways?
Following Ali G, Borat and Bruno, The Dictator is the fourth Cohen creation to make it to the big screen. As in his previous work, the talented funnyman revels in covering provocative, potentially offensive subject matter in darkly comic fashion, but with a generous side-serving of scatological humour, it's far from serious satire. It does, however, offer plenty of funny moments, and, with a tighter script than usual, Cohen has assembled a cast more than capable of delivering. Look out for cameos from stars including Megan Fox and Edward Norton.
The Dictator is a Film programme that first aired in 2012 and has been classified a 15 certificate.
