Visitors Review

Angel Dickey (2012-05-26 03:55)

The Devil's Double Highly recommended.

The Devil's Double is based on the true story of Latif Yahia an IraqiLieutenant kidnapped from the front-line in the Iran/Iraq war to becomethe body double for Saddam Hussein's notoriously vicious and sadisticson Uday. Directed by Lee Tamahori it has all the action, brutality andspeed that you would expect for a movie of this genre, "A gangstermovie set in the Middle East" it certainly is, a "modern day Scarface"it may well be too. Dominic Cooper gives an outstanding performance inthe Dual roles of Latif and Uday Saddam Hussein, never leaving youguessing who exactly he is playing at any one time but cementing thebelief that there are two men in opposing roles. "Striking" and "Oscarworthy" are two descriptions that I wish to use to portray his deliveryof what can only be an actors dream, to dominate the whole screen andtry to upstage yourself. He has a very strong supporting cast whoalthough may not be "household names" deliver on every level, withspecial mention to Philip Quast as possibly the best Saddam Hussein Ihave seen on screen, Raad Rawi as Munem Hammed -a good man in a badjob- and Ludivine Sagnier who plays Sarrab -the apex of the lovetriangle- is seductive and possibly the only female in the this"Moustaches and Marlboro" movie with lines. Don't believe for a secondthat this movie lacks depth, you do leave with vivid images andthinking about recent history and beyond, the intention to provokethought may not have been high on Lee Tamahori's list but that doesn'tmean it wasn't a by-product. As this movie is "based on the true story"I decided to do a little more research into Latif Yahia the man. His isthe kind of story that I suppose you have to be from a certain decadeto be familiar with, although he has a vast collection of interviews,blogs, has written three books -The Devil's Double written in 1994being the one the movie was adapted from- and a further two books to bereleased next year. He also has his own website a Facebook page and ifyou care to, you can follow him on twitter. I find his viewpointfascinating personally, brave/courageous would be other words I woulduse to describe him, but then if you have lived with the Devil youwould need to be wouldn't you? To find out more about the book TheDevil's Double go to www.arcanummediagroup.com

Camilla Tuhuleruw (2012-05-25 10:25)

Best Film 10/10

I am a huge IMDb fan, I quite possibly have too much time on my hands!But, ya' know how it goes, you're looking at one movie which brings youto the next, etc. etc. Which is how I found myself here on The Devil'sDouble page, I haven seen the movie,What I'm writing about here afterreading through all of the reviews is the fact that no matter how manypeople actually read the reviews and "liked" them, there's always onaverage 9 who didn't "like" or "find useful". Being a kind of Geek,yeah, I'll admit to it! The laws of probability of that happeningnaturally are huge! So what I'm saying is that one person or 9 people,came along and decided it didn't matter what anyone wrote about themovie, they just weren't going to "like" or "find it useful"  Hey, Irespect everyone's right to have an opinion, I'm just expressing mine!Ya'know it's one thing writing a review and stating your reasons forliking or not any movie, but it's kinda cowardly just clickinganonymously don't ya think??  It's like someone came along and lookedat the title poster or looked at the cast names, scrolled down thereviews and just went, nah, don't like you, nah, don't like your name,nah, you're from where? nah, don't like the look of that guy, etc. Growup! 

slayerjmk95 (2012-05-24 22:33)

The Untold Story

Saddam Hussein was not the only one in his family with a body double;his son, Uday Hussein had one as well. This is the story behind thatdouble, and his name is Latif Yahia. This is definitely not a film tomiss when it is released. Lee Tamahori is a skilled director who hashis flaws when it comes to his films, but overall he has a very goodrecord behind him (Next, Die Another Day, Along Came A Spider). Theacting in this film is good, the deliverance is spectacular, and theoverall tone and feel for the characters and setting is very realistic.With great effects, cinematography, and writing, this film is,hands-down, one of the best Indie films ever created. I'd see this intheaters twice, given the chance to. I'm sure Latif Yahia will besatisfied with this Indie masterpiece8.5/10 Stars****

Kristie Baker (2012-05-24 17:33)

The Devil's Double.

The Devil's Double, is a film about a man forced to become someone elseto stop or save his boss from assassination attempts or boringassignments. The boss is son of Dicator Saddam Hussein, Uday Hussein. Ireally liked the movie, it was fast and flashy with great music andbrilliant acting, the lead actor is Dominic Cooper, he plays both UdayHussein and his body double Latif Yahia, his portrayal of Uday inparticualr is just amazing! He can go from zero to maniac in twoseconds! It's well worth watching, I saw it at the Rio Film Festival, Ireally want to bring my friends to see it with me, it's the kind ofmovie you can watch over and over again. I give it 10/10 with abullet! 

Rockwell_Fassbender (2012-05-24 00:54)

Dominic Cooper is a revelation.

I could definitely see this being a film that just doesn't jive wellwith some people, but for me it worked on just about every singlelevel. A fascinating study of a true-life scenario, with some hauntingsequences of violence mixed in with an intriguing character study intotwo guys stuck in the same situation; one wild and violent, the otherjust trying to survive. I generally get worn out in films like this andstart to zone off around the halfway point, but this is one that keptme fully engaged and honestly felt like it whizzed by. I was surprisedwhen the end sequence came, despite the final act being a littlelong-winded I could have easily gone for another half hour. It's thisintriguing character study for the large majority, then the final actjust throws it into full gear and kept a lump in my throat with thehigh-intensity.The whole thing rests on the shoulders (two pairs) of Dominic Cooperand I'm rarely as surprised with a performance the way I was with his.He hasn't been given much opportunity to shine in his career so far,but in these two roles he gets an entire film and he takes fulladvantage of it. The characters are written a little thin, but thatdoesn't stop him for a second from delivering one of the finestperformances of the year so far. He adds these layers to the charactersthat aren't necessarily on the paper, and really soars. As Latif Yahia,he is calm and reserved, stuck in a situation that he knows he can'tescape and just trying to get by. In this character he does everythinginternally, holding in all of the rage and horror he experiencesbecause he knows he'll be killed if he lets it out. It's a fine displayof that "acting with your eyes" kind of style I love. Then as UdayHussein he completely switches gears, exploding off the screen like abat out of hell, the kind of animal portrayal you could see someonelike Gary Oldman deliver. He turns Uday into one of the most terrifyingscreen villains I've encountered. You truly fear this monster.On their own, each portrayal is a remarkable show, but when you stepback and look at the collective work Cooper gives, it's absolutelyastonishing. After about half an hour I completely forgot the same guywas playing these two people. That's how far into these characters hegets, there is never a second where I recognize the same actor in bothcharacter because he hits them so differently. The way he walks, theway he talks, the way he sits are so distinctly different and unique toeach character. It's an achievement when an actor can make onecharacter feel so authentic and lived-in, but when he can do it withtwo in the same movie, well that's something truly special.

David Ferguson (2012-05-23 15:58)

Despicable Me

Greetings again from the darkness. The psychotic,sadistic son of SaddamHussein is the subject of this film from director Lee Tamahori.Tamahori has a history of colorful films with terrific visuals that aresomewhat lacking in substance. This latest film falls right in line,although it had much potential.The key reason to see this one is the explosive performance(s) ofDominic Cooper. He plays two characters who happen to look identical,but are polar opposites in thought and morals. As Latif Yahia, Cooperplays a genuinely nice citizen of Iraq who gets forced into the role of"fiday" or body double for Saddam's evil son Uday. For lack of a betterdescription, Uday is psychotic and thrills only at abuse of power. Thisis not political corruption per se, because Uday has very little rolein the Saddam government. But it is the most frightening example ofabsolute power corrupted.This has to be an actor's dream come true ... playing two suchdifferent characters, one of which requires your actions to go over thetop. Cooper is best known for his much different roles in Mamma Mia andAn Education. His performance ranks with Al Pacino in Scarface andVincent Cassel in Mesrine. The movie is very difficult to watch becauseof the actions of this guy, but Cooper's performance makes itworthwhile.The support work is provided by Ludivine Sagnier (Swimming Pool) asUday's lover, who also risks her life by getting cozy with Latif. I amreally not sure about this character and although I am a fan ofSagnier, this story line seemed to take away from the battle of witsbetween Uday and Latif. Combine that with the movie being about 10-15minutes too long, and I believe the script could have been tightened upresulting in an improved movie.

chaz-28 (2012-05-22 16:51)

Life with a Psychotic Monster aka Uday Hussein

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 justhow horrible of a man he was. Uday would patrol the Baghdad streets inhis sports car, kidnap school girls, rape them, murder them, and thenhave his goons dispose of the bodies. Nothing would ever happen to himbecause he hid behind daddy, Saddam Hussein. It appears he had noconscience; he proudly maintained videos of torture sessions,especially from underperforming Iraqi Olympic athletes. There areparticular scenes in this film depicting crude torture techniques whichare 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 intothese two separate men. He plays Uday with a high pitched voice,forever animated and crazy-eyed. Latif is laconic, thoughtful, anddeeply troubled by the events occurring around him. This movie is basedon actual events as written by Latif Yahia himself. Uday and Latif wereclassmates and later on, Uday remembers their similarities and hasLatif plucked from the Iran/Iraq battlefield. This was not a jobrecommendation either; Latif either would become Uday's double or heand his family would be tortured and executed.Latif could now enjoy all of Uday's luxuries, except his women. Theinevitable involvement with a woman Latif should not have beensocializing with is the film's one weak spot. Ludivine Sagnier playsSarrab, a woman who Uday plucked from a club once and has yet torelease from his grasp. Sagnier has starred in high quality work in thepast both with Swimming Pool and 8 Women, but Sarrab's character doesnot fit very well here. The Devil's Double is about the relationshipbetween Uday Hussein and Latif Yahia with the background of the firstPersian Gulf War and Latif's desperate attempts to deal with thecrumbling situation. There is not very much room from Sagnier and hercharacter more often than not just gets in the way of what should bethe central theme. For example, during the Baghdad bombing in theopening days of the 1991 war, instead of showing what Uday was doing orwhere he was hiding, the audience gets a scene between Latif andSarrab. This was the wrong choice for both the screenwriter anddirector to make.The director, Lee Tamahori, is a veteran action film director withcredits including a James Bond film, Die Another Day, and othersporadic attempts with Along Came A Spider and the xXx sequel. This isnot an action film though. It is a tough, psychological thriller andTamahori does an admirable job with it except from the previouslymentioned scene. The writer, Michal Thomas, has been around a long timebut his work is mostly unknown except for his Ladyhawke screenplay andan episode of the Crash television series. He has adapted Latif Yahia'sown novel and has done a forthright job of it.Thank goodness Latif's novel was adapted for the big screen. One willread in the newspaper occasionally that Iraqi citizens miss SaddamHussein's regime because at least the country was more stable than itis now and they had electricity and employment. When those thoughtsspring up, they should be required to watch The Devil's Double toremind them of the insanity their country has moved away from.

Hellmant (2012-05-22 11:33)

Cooper shines in amazing dual performances!

'THE DEVIL'S DOUBLE': Three and a Half Stars (Out of Five) A brutally violent biopic based on a book written by a man, named LatifYahia, who claims to have been a body double for Saddam Hussein's son,Uday. Dominic Cooper stars impressively in the dual lead roles (asLatif and Uday). The film was directed by Lee Tamahori (who's most wellknown for directing B action films like 'DIE ANOTHER DAY', 'NEXT' and'XXX: STATE OF THE UNION') and written by Michael Thomas. There hasbeen a lot of criticism of the film (as well as the book) for beingmore fiction than fact but the filmmakers have admitted that a lot ofthe film's details have been fabricated. Regardless the film isentertaining as well as very interesting.Latif is introduced as an army lieutenant called in to Sadam's palacein Baghdad at the request of Uday. Once there Uday gives Latif theultimatum that he either commit to living at the palace with him and behis body double or have his family killed by Sadam's soldiers. Latifreluctantly agrees and is quickly drawn in to a world of madness. Udayis sadistic and insane and takes whatever he wants, much to theembarrassment of his father. Latif is an honorable soldier dedicated todefending Iraq, but not at this cost, and he is constantly torn withwhat he must do.The movie is very hard to watch at times; it's filled with torture,rape and sadistic madness at times. It's also very interesting andcompelling, if not believable though. Tamahori does an impressive jobdirecting, especially considering his previous film efforts, and thescript is well written but it's Cooper that steals the show! Coopermakes the movie with his amazing dual performances and gives the filmjust the right amount of madness and humanity it needs. Without him themovie probably wouldn't have been nearly as memorable. It has it'sflaws and is not for the squeamish but the movie is worth a watch formost.Watch our movie review show 'MOVIE TALK' at:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYPV4P9FyXg

Neil Welch (2012-05-21 15:58)

Never as gripping as it should have been

Dominic Cooper - you know, that nice young lad who was Sophie'sboyfriend in Mamma Mia - plays both Uday Hussein and Latif Yahia, theman inveigled into being Uday's double, in this interesting butunpleasant tilt at recent history. As always, with "based on a truestory", the extent of that truth is subject to question, although themore sensational elements are, of course, Uday's behaviour, and it isfairly well documented that he was a violent, psychotic, drug-addledmadman.Cooper thus has the opportunity to go over the top as Uday, and to playa decent, tortured individual in Latif, often in the same scenecourtesy of seamless effects work (and a good rear view stand-in).Ludivine Sagnier is hugely attractive and effective as Sarrab, caughtbetween the two men and, like Latif, trapped by the threat of what Udaymight do if defied.There is some graphic violence and, of necessity, the film is inhabitedby events where the description "unpleasant" is sadly inadequate. Andyet, for all its dramatic potential, this film never really got hold ofme in the way it should have.

zhouxiaoxue-1 (2012-05-21 11:11)

Very Cheesy

This is another case of interesting premise clowned up into anembarrassing final product. What could have been a truly horrifying ortouching story was unnecessarily accessorized with too much fluff.Ironically, during the Q & A at Sundance the producers mentioned thatthey fought hard for the rights of this story against some bigHollywood studios because there were confident in their unique creativevision. Sadly, this film turned out to be the poster child of clichéHollywood influence.I'm unsure why the director/screenwriter had so little faith in theappeal of the actual events and felt they had to dramatize the story tomake it more "entertaining". Instead of higher entertainment value theygot cheesiness: the dialogues were cheesy; the characters were cheesy;the scene where Latif and his love interest rode away on horses intothe sunset -> CHEESY. Nothing about the movie felt genuine. Even theirattempt to humanize the characters - Uday is not just a psychopath buta troubled (borderline comical) child who had daddy issues - seemedcalculated and unconvincing. Then they made the mistake of making theprotagonist Mr. Perfect. Latif did all the right things: He was forcedto accepted a job of great danger in order to protect his family; Hedespised Uday and everything Uday stood for; He stood firmly and nevergave in to the temptations of luxury and pleasure; He fell in love withUday's mistress, but even that was an act of saving her suffering soul.His decisions were too easy and his moral strength is God-like. Inconclusion, he is a hopelessly two-dimensional character.The producers also said "We wanted to make this film the nextScarface". I reacted by laughing out loud, presumptuously assuming theywere being sarcastic. Turns out it was no joke. I am not sure how theyequated Scarface with unique and creative; I am not criticizing itsentertainment value but Scarface has Hollywood written all over it.It's a shame really. I'm sure Latif's story would have made a greatfilm without all the noise.

tigerstar154 (2012-05-20 23:27)

Great Movie

The Devil's DoubleWhen I first heard of this movie, I was quite interested. In fact, Ihad seen the trailer every time. Many people are familiar with Saddamand his cruelty but this Movie shows Uday Hussein's menace which isless looked upon. The time period is during/after the Gulf war in 1991but focused a little before when Iran-Iraq had a war.A look alike man by the name of Latif Yahya becomes Uday Hussein's bodydouble and faces a life cruelty.The Pluses: Great Scenery, The acting of Dominic Cooper and his role(he looked authentically Arab)The action, and they show various warclips of Iraq which is helpful to some. The dude who played SaddamHussain actually looked liked him. The girls were great, especially thegirl who played the Concubine, SarrabThe Minuses: This is an R-rated flick so expect a lot of violence,cussing sex and nudity especially towards the end.Overall, The Devil's Double is a great Fictional film, notice I saidfictional as some events are taken out of proportion. i give this an8/10

pchero (2012-05-20 10:52)

Acting is what we see

This is the first time I am writing a review about any movie and iguess its coppers acting and lee's direction that made me write one. Itwas an absolute mature direction and acting. Each and every scene isworth paying for. I have never came across such a brilliant dual roleperformance in any cinema in the past so many years of entertainment.You don't realise during the play that it's the same person whoperformed these two roles which you are looking it. It's a thrillthrough out the movie. Casting would have done very sensitively forsure. Cooper has beaten all the records in performance by any maleactors for me so far. I would highly recommend watching this masterpiece on big screen as it worth a lot more showing price then what youwill pay for. 100 out of 10 for me.

gradyharp (2012-05-20 00:45)

Dominic Cooper's Star Turn

THE DEVIL'S DOUBLE is a surprise film - a film that is not onlyinformative in that it is based on a true story, but it is also anexamination of the corruption of Saddam Hussein's (Philip Quast)control of Iraq, AND it also happens to display one of the finestacting performances by a male actor this year. Dominic Cooper is doublyexceptional playing both the man from whom the story was obtained -Latif Yahia - as well as the 'Black Devil' Uday Saddam Hussein, SaddamHussein's despicably rotten, psychopathic, drug addicted, Lothario andbrutal murderer oldest son.There is a term 'fiday' which means body double. According toencyclopedic sources 'Uday Saddam Hussein is known to have used a bodydouble named Latif Yahia. Being from a well- off family, Yahia was sentto the best school in Iraq, and it was at one of those that he firstcrossed paths with Uday. Even then, his resemblance to Uday wassomething that was apparent as Yahia's classmates would point out.Years later, during the Iran-Iraq war, Yahia was a captain on the frontwhen he was pulled out by Iraqi intelligence and forced to becomeUday's fiday or body double via threats to his family. Yahia was thenmade to undergo training and cosmetic surgery (including dental) inorder for him to resemble Uday more. After allegedly surviving 11assassination attempts targeted at Uday, Yahia successfully fled Iraqin December 1991. Uday had his father picked up and poisoned inretribution. Yahia wrote a book detailing his life and the life helived as Uday's body double in his book The Devil's Double.'Baghdad, the playground for the rich and infamous, where anything canbe bought - but for a price. This is Uday Saddam Hussein's world andwith his depraved lust for debauchery and immorality, he helps himselfto whatever turns him on. The film recreates Baghdad and the sordidconditions in the city as Iraq overtook Kuwait for its oil, and actthat marked the beginning of the Iraqi war with the United States.Clips of Hussein and Bush are inserted for credibility. When Latif isforced by torture and threats to become Uday's double the tensionmounts to an almost incredible level. When Latif can no longer stomachthe barbarianism of Uday he flees with Uday's No. 1 mistress Sarrab(Ludivine Sangier) to Malta: Latif's protection of Sarrab iscompromised and Latif returns, betrayed, to Baghdad to cause bodilyharm to Uday. The brilliance of this film is focused on the dual roles Dominic Cooperplays - Latif and Uday - two men as opposite from each other as couldbe imagined. But Cooper is able to pull this duplicity of roles off sowell that it at all times seems like there are two actors playing theindividual roles. It is a true tour de force of acting and should placeDominic Cooper in the lineup for the Oscars. It is not clear why thisfilm is not better known. It is magnificently written (Latif Yahia andMichael Thomas), filmed (Sam McCurdy) and directed (Lee Tamahori) andin this reviewer's opinion deserves to be considered one of the bestfilms of the year. It is that powerful: it is that deserving. Grady Harp

Lee Benson (2012-05-19 15:33)

I made you Latif! I MADE YOU!

When they were filming Scarface I don't think they thought that thelines "Say hello to my little friends" was going to be absorbed intopopular culture. Neither do I believe that Michael Thomas the screenwriter of The Devil's Double think that the line above "I made youLatif, I MADE YOU !" would stick in the heads of not only me but myother friends who went to watch the Devil's Double last night. Based onthe true story of Latif Yahia, the man forced to become the Fiday orbody Double of Uday , Saddam Hussein's oldest and psychotic son. Bothparts are played by actor Dominic Cooper ( Mamma Mia!, An Education,History Boys) a huge departure form his "softer" roles, where heusually plays a love interest or gentleman. He is so convincing, thatyou forget that you are watching one guy playing two roles, wellactually three, Uday, Latif, Latif being Uday! It's confusing justsaying it, try doing it! The film itself is loud, colorful and so'80's, not that I remember them very well but having seen a few '80'smovies recently I marveled at where they got the shiny suits from! Itis definitely a guy's movie, (but the girls will be captivated byDominic in all his guises) and by that I mean fast cars, mustaches,cigars and lots of semi naked girls! There's a bit of a love triangle,Uday, Sarrab,(played by hot French actress Ludivine Sagnier, see TheSwimming Pool) Latif. It's fast paced, action packed and does make youthink, how could a guy survive that life? What were his options? Ohyeah, a bit of techie stuff, it was filmed on R.E.D the new digitalsystem, see if you can tell the difference in picture quality. Ienjoyed it, my bro's enjoyed it. See for yourself.

amber-batts (2012-05-18 23:39)

The story, wow! Dominic Cooper wow!

I just saw the Devil's Double, I'm so proud! We've had a few films madehere in Malta but for me, this is the absolute best! while they werefilming here there was a big buzz about the movie and the cast, butseeing it for the first time on screen really gave me goosebumps. A fewpeople I know worked on it as extras so it's fun for me to see if I canspot them but the story, wow! Dominic Cooper wow! The whole film looksgreat, great action and suspense and also tragedy, I can't believethose things really went on. Altogether a movie Malta should be proudof! Go see The Devil's Double! 10/10 ********** Best of the Best THEDEVIL'S DOUBLE one of the year's best films.

tomouse23a (2012-05-18 10:46)

If I'd have known about the door behind me I'd have left 15 minutes in

I've just seen this at the Berlin Film Festival, its rare for me to hate everything about a film, but for this one I'm making a special exception.The idea of a film about Saddam's son and his double seems an interesting one in the least, to be fair this could have worked as either a horror, action or comedy, but Lee Tamahori seems here to be drink driving his way between all three genres and mowing everything down in his path.At the opening, the cinematography signalled all that was bad to come, soon after it was confirmed that the acting and direction both suffered a similar fate.Dominic Cooper gives a truly embarrassing and shameful performance, trying for some inexplicable reason to emulate Freddie Mercury whilst playing Saddam's psychotic son, turning him into a comedy character above anything else, adding no threat or menace whatsoever. His other performance as Latif, the eponymous character is barely worth mentioning.Lee Tamahori manages to hash up every directorial aspect of this film beginning with his use of what has to be the worst and in parts most unnecessarily awful script I've ever heard.I could go on.In conclusion, avoid this film like the plague, if we're lucky it won't even be picked up for distribution.

KineticSeoul (2012-05-16 23:10)

Struggle between the life of a man's family and serving a evil tyrant

The trailer to this movie was intriguing, now was this movie was greatas the trailer made it seem. Not really but it's still a pretty darngood movie that shows how evil and sadistic a person can get inhistory. The movie starts out really interesting and the acting by theactor that plays two characters was almost superb. It was amazing tosee an actor play two completely different characters, each very wellacted as the other. The story is this, and yes this is based on thetrue story not sure how much of this movie is true. But a lot of thestuff happening in this movie was plausible. Anyways there is this guynamed Latif Yahia who wants to serve his country but is forced to servea evil sadistic tyrant Uday Hussein. Who is almost the epitome of evilbecause of his very corrupt actions and his crime towards humanity. Themain struggle in this movie is how Latif and his decisions, how heeither has to serve Uday and help him in his corrupt and evil ways orsee the death of his family. And the constant struggle between thesetwo options is the main center of the plot. The problem with this moviethough is how it draws you in for a bit over an hour but start to loseit's edge a bit into the movie. It just seemed like the movie waslonger than it had to be, the plot isn't convoluted at all. And for asimple story as this, the movie just seemed to be drawn out after awhile. But overall it's a movie that is worth seeing, since the shockvalue of it all. How one man can cause so much suffering while anotheris forced to watch and help the man behind the suffering.7.6/10

JoeB131 (2012-05-16 09:50)

An interesting movie

In that you forget the same actor is playing both roles and for a fewminutes, you forget that it IS an actor, and you think you are gettinga peak into this regime.A key point. The character I felt that should have gotten a lot morescreen time and didn't was Saddam Hussein himself. Saddam only appearsin a couple of scenes, as does the other son, Qusay.Still, this is an interesting movie, in that we get a glimpse of whatthings were like within the Iraqi regime. We see Latif, who is a decentman, dragged into this awful world.What is lacking is the the relationship that Uday had with the rest ofhis family, other than an implication he had an incestuous relationshipwith his mother, or maybe a mother surrogate. It was also implied Udaywas gay.Still,it's a pretty good movie, and definitely worth watching.

Quietb-1 (2012-05-16 15:00)

Uday Boo day

Want to spend a couple hours with a sadistic, drugged out madman? Enjoybad language, extreme violence, torture and rape? Then spend somequality time with Uday Hussein.Dominic Cooper is outstanding in the two lead roles. How great it wouldbe if he got nominations for best and supporting actor in the samemovie.At least three characters attempt suicide. Audience members mightconsider the same exit strategy as the sadistic behavior is repeatedand repeated and repeated.The film has a warm polished look to it with excellent wide screencinematography. Familiar Gulf War footage is blended effectively. Incontrast to the dragged out and repeated unpleasantness is the rushedinto attempt to kill Uday that ends the movie.Tough characters to like combined with common knowledge of what becameto Uday make for an audience distancing movie. It is too unpleasant torecommend.

JvH48 (2012-05-16 00:20)

Entertaining inside view in the former Baghdad. Some discomforting parts, but without political intentions (quote from film maker)

I saw "The Devil's Double" at the Berlinale 2011. An unusual largenumber (over 300) stayed for the full 30 minutes of Q&A after thescreening. The producer warned us that we should expect not too much ofthe political impact of this film. It is better (his words) to regardit as just a gangster movie. We also learned that the stand-insituation that seemed compressed here in a smaller time frame, in factexisted for a full 4 years. We saw that Latif succeeded in keeping hishands reasonably clean, but it cannot have been real for such a timespan. We still may wonder how much of this life he was pulled-in,against his will and his nature, but nevertheless being part of it.According to the film maker, what we saw was in more respects notcompletely accurate. Some freedom was exercised while portraying thesituation in Baghdad at that time. The existence of stand-in's,however, was realistic and publicly known. That went as far as showingthem openly, if only to confuse potential attackers. It certainlyreduced the risk in public appearances, since one could never knowwhether you saw the real one, or a double dressed and acting like thereal one.There were also questions about using English as the prime language.The producer had some arguments in favor of the choices made. Firstly,raising a 50M budget for a movie with Arabic speaking actors, wasconsidered a Mission Impossible. Also, English is generally accepted asthe standard movie language, spoken by Roman emperors as well as aliensfrom other planets.The Q&A also revealed some facts about how Dominic Cooper handled hisdouble role. We now know that he played both roles on the same day,given the entourage and colleague actors present that day. He alwaysplayed the "lunatic" parts first, and (without much time in between)the "Latif" parts shortly after that. Of course, there was a challengein keeping track of the places where the counterpart actor stood atparticular moments during the scene. Anyway, if he missed a few andlooked in a wrong direction at some instances, I did not notice it andI think the same of other people seeing this film for the first time.At various moments throughout the screening the notion crossed my mindthat this movie could be construed as a justification of overturningthe Sadam regime, or (in other words) as propaganda in favor of GeorgeW for a completed project in Iraq. In retrospect, I don't think such ahidden meaning was intended. The film was not against Sadam as adictator in particular, but rather against dictators in general. Theyexisted and ruled since the time of the Roman emperors (and probablybefore that), and still are ruling nowadays in countries all over theworld. We see the wrong side effects of unlimited power. We also seehow uncooperative people were regarded "that is the thanks we get foruplifting this country" (or variations thereof).Political issues and hidden meanings set aside, we saw a wellconstructed story line, believable casting, and an inside view in thepalace and its inhabitants at that time. One can argue about thetorture, punishment and other violent scenes, that these better couldbe left out, or otherwise included implicitly by telling about it(without showing actual pictures). On the other hand, leaving these outwould change the film too much into a costume drama, thereby reducingthe impact it now will have on the average viewer. Anyway, it is easyfor us to criticize choices being made by the film makers. In myopinion they did their job very well, all things considered.