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.
Laughable, but trashily entertaining, Hollywood propaganda about Saddam Hussein's son Uday (Dominic Cooper) and his look-alike Latif (Dominic Cooper): "A true story" based on the book of the same name, Latif Yahia's account on his life as 'The Devil's Double' is, as you may've guessed from the title, somewhat of a biased evaluation. For if we're to take screenwriter Michael Thomas on his word; then Uday was, apparently, a vicious c*** with a penchant for Cohibas, schoolgirls, raping and pillaging. The writers decline to mention whether he ate babies or tore the wings of butterflies but we're led to assume that he did.
Now I'm sure Latif Yahia is a thoroughly decent chap; so it's unfortunate that his story, embellished or not, may be used to try and justify a war that no Iraqi, including Yahia, wanted.
Dominic Cooper plays both roles well though the broad, comic book characterization doesn't leave much room for subtly and nuance: Uday: Bad, Latif: Good, hardly a stretch. And I did have some problems with Cooper's Arab accent which isn't quite up to scratch and often slips into Estuary English. French actress Ludivine Sagnier crops up as Uday's Lebanese lover Sccarab and soon falls for Latif in an absurd romantic subplot that takes us towards a bloody finale en route to 'Desert Shield' and the First Gulf War in 1990.
Gun-for-hire director Lee Thamoroi has been on the commercial merry-go-round since his critically acclaimed debut 'Once Were Warriors' (1994). And though I've enjoyed some of his films over the years (e.g. 'Die Another Day', 'Along Came A Spider') he's an anonymous presence whose racked up some pretty dire movies on his resume. 'The Devil's Double' isn't his worst but then again, he did direct 'xxx2: State of the Union' so that's not saying much.
The film wants to be 'Scarface' meets 'Three Kings' and does, on occasion, succeed in aping the style and narrative structure of both. But there's an unexpected irony here; in that a world partially contaminated by the sadistic policies of demented war criminals like Bush & Blair, may actually see Uday's imagined life of gun toting, drug taking hedonism as something to aspire to rather than reject. The filmmakers also decline to mention that the Anglo-American-Israeli invaders who currently occupy the country have committed more atrocities against innocent Iraqis in eight years, than the U.S. imposed Saddam Hussein regime could manage in twenty. But that would be too close to the truth. And in a world where the aforementioned powers are in terminal decline; some people may still need to believe that in Hollywood, if nowhere else, America can still come out on top.
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Thriller tracing the story of an Iraqi soldier forced to be the body double of Saddam Hussein's sadistic son Uday. With his family threatened with death if he fails to comply, soldier Latif Yahia (Dominic Cooper) undergoes surgery and studiously studies Uday (also played by Cooper)'s personal habits, determined not to make any mistakes that may provoke the rage of the notorious playboy. As the months pass, Latif's constant exposure to Uday's sadistic excesses leads him to search for a way out, but his plans to escape are complicated when he begins to fall for the attentions of Uday's mistress Sarrab (Ludivine Sagnier).
Please note this is a region B Blu-ray and will require a region B or region free Blu-ray player in order to play. (Dominic Cooper (AN EDUCATION) headlines director Lee Tamahori's fact-based docudrama centering on the nightmarish experiences of an Iraqi army lieutenant whose life became a living hell after he was hand selected to be a fiday ('body double') for the Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's ruthless son Uday. Baghdad, 1987: Iraqi soldier Latif Yahia (Cooper) becomes privy to the inner-workings of the royal family after receiving an offer he can't refuse. Desperate to protect his family and terrified of making any fatal missteps, Latif studies Uday's every personal tick in order to become the spitting image of the so-called 'Black Prince'. While some Iraqis may have been honoured to be presented with such a unique opportunity, Uday's unparalleled sadism and debauched lifestyle quickly began to eat away at the very core of Latif's soul. As war with Kuwait looms on the horizon, Latif finds himself increasingly drawn to his Uday's ravishing mistress Sarrab (Ludivine Sangier), a woman with her own terrifying tales to tell about time spent with Iraq's cruelest son. Age Rating 18
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