The Devil's Double [Blu-ray]

the main problem with this movie is its about an annoying person so its kind of an annoying movie. Also the cover suggests that its like scarface and goodfellas but better and thats an insulting overstatement. Sure its violent and uncomfortble at times but nothing it seemed like familiar scenes in a new setting. I found it mildly entertaining for the insight into the different areas of iraq that you dont normally see in western media.

I want to take a different approach to assessing this movie from the viewer's perspective. Undoubtedly, it is one of the nastier and more violent movies out there when it comes to dealing with the psychotic and sadistic face of tyranny, but that is not what caught my attention. If the film was just about the sickening excesses of Uday, the demented son of the evil dictator Saddam Hussein, I would dismiss it as gratuitously pointless, but that is not the case. This tale of horror is both a simple and a complex chain of events: on one level, we have the uninterrupted violence and terror in the palace while, on the other, there is a psychological thriller being acted out. Uday is the mad son who basically believes he has control over his father's kingdom to the point of ordering all and sundry to do whatever his evil mind wishes, even to the point of forcing an old school mate to be his double so he can be a figure in control of himself. Now that is bizarre! This young Kurd, Latif, who has been strong-armed into performing this odious role, must find a way to outsmart his cunning master before being absolutely controlled and corrupted by his evil designs. Latif, the victim, gradually gains the upper hand by manipulating Uday into becoming dependent on him for a change. In the film, this shift in control is subtle and perilous. Each time Latif stands up to Uday's bullying, we see a moment of truth being played out in his life where he has to choose whether to be true to the values of his upbringing or cave into insanity. Survival for him invariably comes in being able to keep a couple of steps ahead of the game and finding someone in the system to ally with. Dominic Cooper does a masterful job in making "The Devil's Double" something more than just a mind-numbing account of all that is very bad in the world. By playing both Uday and Latif as doubles and character foils, this actor has preserved the life of a real hero in a story where none should humanly exist. I recommend this production to anyone who is still struggling with why the US invaded Iraq in 2002.

This is a film from director Lee Tamahori ('Mullholland Falls' ' 'Once Were Warriors') and is 'based on true events'. These events surround the son of Saddam Hussein ' Uday Hussein. When you are a bit of a tyrant or even just feckless and lazy, it is nice to have someone stand in for you on the odd occasion. That is where a 'fiday' comes in handy, that is a double to be used to fill in on those boring diplomatic visits and be target practice for would be assassins.

In real life this was a former school 'mate' of Uday's one Latif Yahia). Both Uday and Latif are played brilliantly by Dominic Cooper, who actually steals the show with two bravura performances. Latif is picked up and given a choice of becoming the 'fiday' or ? Well he soon finds out what refusal means and so against his will starts to do the bidding of Uday. The house of Saddam is portrayed as a hedonistic hell hole, where everything, life included, is cheap; especially when you have so much oil revenue. Being in absolute power also leads inevitably to absolute corruption. The actual events are shown and real footage is used in places especially around the invasion of Kuwait and subsequent battles. There is also the recreation of some of the 'parties' and the music is all 'Dead or Alive or Frankie Goes to Hollywood a nice juxtapoint to the on screen antics.

There are scenes of torture and some quite bloody and visceral violence as well as some unpleasant sexual scenes. This however is more a study of a psychotic child who only grew up long enough to learn to drive, fire a gun, have non consensual sex and be able to stick things up his nose rather than a gore fest. Uday is portrayed as a thoroughly unlikable chap with not one iota of a saving grace. There is also a fair smattering of profanity, but it is not gratuitous based on the events being depicted as anyone would be hard pushed not to let fly with the odd 'feck' or two.

This is not an enjoyable film, it is however a very good one. Whilst it is trying to tell a story that actually happened, it is still a form of entertainment and as such you just know that some poetic licence has been used; that aside it is still a powerful and gripping piece of cinema and is a show case for the abilities of Dominic Cooper. I hope to see more of him and further offering from Tamahori.