The Dictator
Short description
The Dictator is a comedy about Admiral General Haffaz Aladeen, the ruler of Wadiya, a North African country with oil reserves. Aladeen is determined to keep democracy out of the nation he governs, and his uncle Tamir, who heads the secret police and security apparatus, persuades him to travel to New York to address the United Nations, which has repeatedly sanctioned Wadiya. Once he is abroad and stripped of his authority, Aladeen finds himself stranded and forced to confront a way of life he has spent his reign opposing.
Larry Charles directed the film, which sits between Brüno and Army of One in his filmography. Sacha Baron Cohen stars as both Aladeen and a stand-in double, and he wrote the screenplay with Jeff Schaffer and Alec Berg. Ben Kingsley plays Tamir, with Anna Faris as Zoey and Jason Mantzoukas as Nadal among the main cast. The production involved 138 credited cast members and 201 credited crew.
Made for around 65 million dollars, the film took in roughly 179 million dollars worldwide. Reception was mixed and middle-of-the-road: on IMDb it holds 6.5 out of 10 across some 365,000 votes, and on TMDB 6.2 out of 10 from about 6,625 votes. A critics' rating of 5.9 out of 10 from 219 reviews places it close to those audience scores, suggesting a film that neither critics nor viewers embraced strongly.
What's left behind the scenes
- In episode #100 (season 17) of 'The Daily Show' with Jon Stewart, it is revealed that Aladdin's first name is Shabazz.
- Photos of Aladdin's lovers, in addition to Megan Fox, include Lindsay Lohan, Halle Berry, Ellen DeGeneres, and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
- In reality, Aladdin and Nadal are speaking Hebrew, not Arabic, during the helicopter tour.
- Additional scenes during the end credits also include moments from the making of the film.
- The fictional Republic of Vadia is located in the same place as the real country of Eritrea.
- Sacha Baron Cohen attended the 84th Academy Awards ceremony as Aladdin, dressed in the same costume as in the film and accompanied by his 'virgin bodyguards'. During an interview with unsuspecting Ryan Seacrest, he held an urn which he claimed contained the ashes of the late North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il. Cohen then poured the ashes directly onto Seacrest's tuxedo.
- In the scene where Aladdin is enjoying himself with the women, they are topless. In the next scene, all the women except one are clothed.
- When Admiral-General Aladdin descends on a rope, he initially holds onto the handles with both hands. In the next shot, he appears hanging on the wire without explanation as to how this happened.
- In the promotional photos, the protagonist is wearing medal ribbons, including: Medal for 'Service in Antarctica' (third row, far left); 'Liberation of Kuwait' Medal (seventh row, far left); Medal for 'Defense of the Philippine Islands in World War II' (fifth row, far left) and Medal for 'Liberation of the Philippines' (fifth row, second from left); One resembles the Belgian Medal 'For War Merit' (fifth row, far right); The French Medal 'For War Merit' (fifth row, second from right). There are at least two repetitions: the 16th row, far right, is the same medal as in the 14th row, second from right, and in the 11th row, far left. On the film's promotional poster, at least one medal (the Belgian Medal 'For War Merit') has been altered, and there are repetitions in groups: the 11th and 12th rows are repeated as are the 18th and 19th.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
