Hussein Asylum

24. Aug, 2011 1 Comment

The Devil’s Double
Go Ahead, Make Me UdayÂ
Official Website |Â Trailers & Mo
R | 109 min

Uday HusseinÂ grew up rich and infamous, under theÂ tyrannicalÂ house of Saddam, which pretty much gave him an unusual license to do as he pleased in Iraq. Â And what he pleased to do turned out to beÂ horrific andÂ unspeakable things to his enemies, his fellow countrymen, and even to his friends. Â This made him someone not to be messed with, but also a ticking time bomb waiting to explode or to be exploded. Â Many people in such a volatile position (like his father) seek out body doubles, for there is safety in numbers. Â Such was the unlucky luck ofÂ Latif Yahia, a former classmate of Uday’s, who juss so happened to resemble him, and had no real choice but to sign up for the one of the worst gigs around – being his… DOUBLE!

WELCOME to Lee Tamahori‘sÂ The Devil’s Double,Â a shocking, yet wholeheartedly fascinating and entertaning look at Latif’s life as Uday II. Doubling our pleasure isÂ Dominic Cooper, who not only is carrying a movie for the very first time, but is carrying it twice, as he plays both Uday and Latif (he even looks like Latif, see below)!!! Â Cooper beyond pulls off the dual roles, handing in two fantastic performances that are as varied as the men themselves. Â Making it all believable is the film tech-mology that lets Coop act out with and against himself in scene after scene. Â That tech-mology is basically the third star of the film (apologies to the lovelyÂ Ludivine Sagnier). Â To hell with body switching, and to heaven with body doubling!!!!

The devil is in the details, and Double‘s got em, but sometimes the lack of time context, and the Hollywoodizing of Latif’s story stand in the way of this becoming a truly excellent flick. Â Still, it’s not often you get a Caligula meets Dave meets Scarface in the desert, with more mustaches than one could ever dream of. Â Wait, do people dream of endless mustaches????

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