Toilet humor prevents 'The Dictator' from shining

If there was anybody in Hollywood that I wish would listen to their critics, it's Sacha Baron Cohen. The man has far more talent than he's willing to allow people to believe but he sadly refuses to step beyond his own bag of tricks. In the case of "The Dictator," I can commend him for trying to twist his usual formula of satire into a different form of narrative but continues to succumb to Cohen's insistence on shock humor whether it has an actual place in the film or not.

His third outing with director Larry Charles -director of "Borat" and "Brüno"- puts Cohen in the role of Admiral General Aladeen , the titular dictator of the fictional country of Wadiya. After falling victim to a conspiracy set into place by his uncle Tamir -Ben Kingsley-, to overthrow his rule and bring democracy to Wadiya at the hands of the United Nations, Aladeen sets out to take back his country despite the loss of his beard, leaving him unrecognizable in the middle of New York City.

As with films starring Cohen's previous characters, "The Dictator" is a satire of modern American culture, particularly providing commentary on operation of US democracy in comparison to dictatorships of the Middle-East. Unlike "Borat" or "Brüno" however, "The Dictator" is completely scripted, which lends itself to the nature of the film in many ways both good and bad.

Due to the nature of the material, it's probably best that Cohen went for a scripted feature film than trying to replicate the mockumentary style of his previous films, as I'm skeptical how many people would believe in the lie of a Middle Eastern dictator arriving in New York City with a parade. Unfortunately the structure of the film does not reflect that. There are several scenes in which Aladeen is seen simply roaming around the city, as if begging to get and record some sort of genuine reaction from the people that never comes.

The biggest shortcoming of "The Dictator" however is the film's forced shock humor. I can't recall ever laughing at it a first time to begin with but one can only look at Cohen's bare crotch so many times before sanity begins to slip. His focus on these types of cheap gags is particularly painful because whenever the focus is actually placed on the social commentary and genuine jokes, the film can genuinely stay afloat.

Cohen's chemistry with Jason Mantzoukas, who plays a former Wadiyan scientist assisting Aladeen in taking back his throne, makes for some of the best moments of the film and I hope to see his career go somewhere. The film is peppered throughout with chuckle worthy jokes and moments that have genuinely caught me off guard but the highlight of the film comes at the end with a speech that so perfectly criticizes America's democratic policies, with no malice or bias. The speech nails everything that "The Dictator" has been trying to accomplish so magnificently that I'll be seeking it for my MP3 player whenever I want a good laugh.

I just wish that moments such as this speech encompassed the entire film. "The Dictator" is well meaning but Cohen's refusal to try anything new in terms of technique holds the film back from achieving the greatness that it so rightly deserves.

C+