The Dictator
Director: Larry Charles
Year Released: 2012
Rating: 2.0
The evil ruler (Sacha Baron Cohen) of the (fictitious) nation of Wadiya ends up in New York City where he's supposed to be executed but manages to escape; at a protest, he befriends a feminist (Anna Faris) who takes him under her hairy wing. The "big" jokes don't work at all - and often reek of desperation (the severed head, the helicopter ride, the zip line, masturbating for the first ... and second ... and third time) - but some of the more sly one-liners are funny, which means Cohen is better when he's being subtly subversive and smart (the big speech towards the end about the perks of being a dictator is excellent satire). Cohen's an intelligent comedian, although his true strength is as a performance artist and now facing the problem of being easily recognizable - this 'traditional' comedy is amusing in bits, but he can do so much better.
