The Devil's Double

I saw The Devil's Double at the Sundance Film festival back in January. I didn't really know anything about the story, but there was such a buzz about it at the festival I thought, why not? that's what festivals are for, watching movies you might not normally see. I wasn't sorry that I did, from the first scene until the last I was gripped, I found myself laughing at times when normally you wouldn't, but that was the great thing about it, it was a roller-coaster ride. A gangster movie set in Baghdad in the 80's, the fact that it's based on a true story doesn't really hit you until you walk out, and you completely believe that the lead Dominic Cooper is two different people. Fantastic. Even more fantastic is the fact that the guy who the movie is about Latif Yahia is still alive! I've seen some people rate this movie with one or two stars, nonsense, 11 out of 10 it's great! But don't believe me, spend a few dollars and make up your own mind, you won't be sorry, I certainly wasn't.

Uday Hussein was a monster. The world knew this before he was killed, but after seeing The Devil's Double, the world has a good reminder just how horrible of a man he was. Uday would patrol the Baghdad streets in his sports car, kidnap school girls, rape them, murder them, and then have his goons dispose of the bodies. Nothing would ever happen to him because he hid behind daddy, Saddam Hussein. It appears he had no conscience; he proudly maintained videos of torture sessions, especially from underperforming Iraqi Olympic athletes. There are particular scenes in this film depicting crude torture techniques which are quite gut wrenching for the audience. Dominic Cooper plays the dual role of Uday Hussein and the man 'taken' to be his body double, Latif Yahia. Cooper seamlessly disappears into these two separate men. He plays Uday with a high pitched voice, forever animated and crazy-eyed. Latif is laconic, thoughtful, and deeply troubled by the events occurring around him. This movie is based on actual events as written by Latif Yahia himself. Uday and Latif were classmates and later on, Uday remembers their similarities and has Latif plucked from the Iran/Iraq battlefield. This was not a job recommendation either; Latif either would become Uday's double or he and his family would be tortured and executed. Latif could now enjoy all of Uday's luxuries, except his women. The inevitable involvement with a woman Latif should not have been socializing with is the film's one weak spot. Ludivine Sagnier plays Sarrab, a woman who Uday plucked from a club once and has yet to release from his grasp. Sagnier has starred in high quality work in the past both with Swimming Pool and 8 Women, but Sarrab's character does not fit very well here. The Devil's Double is about the relationship between Uday Hussein and Latif Yahia with the background of the first Persian Gulf War and Latif's desperate attempts to deal with the crumbling situation. There is not very much room from Sagnier and her character more often than not just gets in the way of what should be the central theme. For example, during the Baghdad bombing in the opening days of the 1991 war, instead of showing what Uday was doing or where he was hiding, the audience gets a scene between Latif and Sarrab. This was the wrong choice for both the screenwriter and director to make. The director, Lee Tamahori, is a veteran action film director with credits including a James Bond film, Die Another Day, and other sporadic attempts with Along Came A Spider and the xXx sequel. This is not an action film though. It is a tough, psychological thriller and Tamahori does an admirable job with it except from the previously mentioned scene. The writer, Michal Thomas, has been around a long time but his work is mostly unknown except for his Ladyhawke screenplay and an episode of the Crash television series. He has adapted Latif Yahia's own novel and has done a forthright job of it. Thank goodness Latif's novel was adapted for the big screen. One will read in the newspaper occasionally that Iraqi citizens miss Saddam Hussein's regime because at least the country was more stable than it is now and they had electricity and employment. When those thoughts spring up, they should be required to watch The Devil's Double to remind them of the insanity their country has moved away from.

Horrible in every way. Horrible actors, pointless scenes, stupid script, dumb story (1 viewing)

Why take an amazing true story and turn into a mundane fictional one? The reality of Latif's life was that he became so entrenched in Uday's character that he practically became him. He became violent and even after he escaped with his wife and kids (not with a hooker on a horse) he continued to behave like Uday. The acting was not great. The portrayal of Uday was over the top and not believable. Same with the constant backchat from Latif to Uday considering that an out of line comment is the reason Latif ended up getting shot in reality. The film could have been an intelligent psychological drama instead of a dumbed blockbuster. Shame.

After an enticing preview I had high hopes for this film. High enough that I decided to play hooky at work to catch the final screening at a theater in my area. I was able to sit through about an hour before I decided to walk out. It was that bad. After leaving the theater I asked a random theater worker if he had seen or enjoyed the film and he simply replied "it was. . . disturbing." Disturbing I could have tolerated and possibly even enjoyed. It was disturbing due to the subject matter but the bad accents and terrible dialogue made the film unwatchable. The film felt like it relied heavily on shock value and not enough on good acting. I understand that it must be very difficult to simultaneously play two starkly different individuals yet the over the top hyena chuckle Cooper used to portray Uday was less distinguishing and more annoying as time went on. The female lead looks to be a pretty girl in her ordinary life but on the big screen she looked horrible which made it difficult to buy her in the role of a sexy temptress. I am a solid fan of IMDb and rely heavily on movie scores here. I was aware that the 7.0 score was derived from a small majority of votes but still I can't articulate enough how generous of a number this is. I give it a 1 simply to bring the average down but probably more accurately a 3.2 in terms of actual "watch-ability". The storyline I think is very interesting and yes it is disturbing to think that an individual this psychopathic existed in real life but I just can't help but feel that it all could have been illustrated in a much more gripping way if presented in a more articulate and better acted film. Total IMDb fail.

After the slew of Iraq movies, all of them from the American soldiers perspective (Green Zone, The Hurt Locker, Three Kings) I found the subject matter of this film to be a refreshing change. What most people know or remember of Gulf war one, is completely overshadowed by Gulf war Two/ Iraqi Freedom. So to be able to go back in time and get a glimpse of Baghdad in it's hey day was a remarkable break from "Victory movies", this is the only movie about Iraq to date as seen from an Iraqi viewpoint. Yes, it's violent (not necessarily moreso than Saw, Texas chainsaw massacre et al) but then since it is a portrayal of events in a real persons life would you want it any other way? Dominic Cooper is just fantastic, he inhabits both characters flawlessly and for the most part you genuinely believe that he is two people. As for the excess, obscenity, gratuitous violence and material wealth that some other reviewers have complained about, well, that was Bagdad in the '80's, does it have to be dressed up in Military Fatigues screaming "U.S.A" to be a good movie? If you liked Scarface, if you want an action packed ride, if you love depth of colour and sound in your movie. If you want to see great acting from Dominic Cooper, then this is the movie for you. When you go see it, ask yourself, what would you have done in the same situation as the main character Latif Yahia? Could you have survived, because, unless you hadn't heard it is based on a true story. Watch and Enjoy, I have watched it twice and want to watch it again because each time I watch it I can't believe it's over, I want more! Stories like this don't come around everyday. Unless of course you want to watch another Hurt Locker, it may have won a lot of Oscars but The Devil's Double deserves more.

I started loving this film within the first few seconds. This film has many redeeming features and I personally found it very enjoyable. Director Lee Tamahori brings a lot of the key Oscar-winning players of the Slumdog team back for this new film. Latif / Dominic Cooper The human connection element was most fascinating, as we wonder what we would do if placed in a similar situation ??? We are really "with" Latif on his journey, as we see him discover a reason to live and how his life perspective changes, not just how to get free from Uday Saddam. The Devil's Double, does not simply prove the point that humans will do whatever it takes to survive in dire circumstances. In fact, I might argue 9 of 10 people wouldn't do what Latif Yahia (Dominic Cooper) does in this film. The Devil's Double, A Definite must-see 10/10 stars.

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