GENRE
Biography/Drama
STORYLINE
A chilling vision of the House of Saddam Hussein comes to life through the eyes of the man who was forced to become the double of Hussein's sadistic son.
Lee Tamahori
CAST
Dominic Cooper
Raad Rawi
Ludivine Sagnier
MY REVIEW
Things with Biographical films with a limited budget is that they are difficult. Its really tough to get a lead playing some real- life guy with a limited budget. The makers of The Devil's Double brought in Dominic Cooper to play the dual role of Uday Saddam Hussein/ Latif Yahia. This is probably the best decision they took.
The movie is set in Baghdad. Latif Yahia, an army lieutenant is called in by the Uday Hussein to play his 'fiday' or his body double or face death. Living with Uday, Latif is exposed to the massive corruption, the gruesome violence and the Psychotic son of the Royal Family. This movie deals with how Latif tries to free himself and his family from the mercurial and sadistic Uday.
They are 3 things that are good about this film. Dominc Cooper, Dominic Cooper and Dominic Cooper. He plays 2 completely opposite roles in the film. From playing the Sadistic Uday who changes his mind every second to the innocent, patriotic and honest Latif Yahia, this guy has done a fantastic job. I was hugely disapointed when he was snubbed by the the Academy. He truly deserved a nomination in my view for playing one of the toughest roles one could get.
The story is simple and predictable. It is based on Latif Yahia's book so I don't blame the writers as they had to follow the book. It is based on a real account so experimentation could not be done. But yes, a little less violence would have been appreciated. They are scenes filled with so much violence that sometimes you cant help but turn your heads away especially the torture scenes involving the Iraqi athletes. Also the problem was its limited release. This movie needed to be a blockbuster movie. It deserved that atleast.
As for other performances Raad Rawi as Munem has done a good job. He plays a role that is almost like a slave to the family agreeing to everything the family says but unlike Uday he does have a heart which is seen later in the movie. Ludivine Sagnier as Sarrab, I think was only included to have some woman in the movie. She does not play an important role but still she supports Cooper quite well.
Overall I wouldn't recommend this film was its storyline but due to Dominic Cooper's performance. He deserves a standing ovation for this role.
MY RATING 8/10
TRAILER
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