DVD Reviews

The Devil's Double

• Rating:
• Director: Lee Tamahori
• Starring: Dominic Cooper
• Details: Belgium / 108mins (16).

You'd have to work hard to turn a great story into a bad movie but that's what has happened with The Devil's Double. It's a shame too because this performance could have kicked Dominic Cooper into A-list talent. It might still do but you'd have to ignore everything else.
Latif Yahia (Cooper) doesn't have a lot of say on the matter. The war veteran will be beaten and tortured and his family will be murdered if he doesn't accept the job. There are no bones about it: he must become Uday Hussein's double. Saddam's son, Uday (Cooper again), if one was kind, could be described as unhinged; if one was telling the truth, Uday is psychotic. Latif is groomed in Uday's style: clothes, accessories and minor cosmetic adjustments are needed to his nose and teeth. But the biggest test comes when Latif has to take on Uday's personality traits. Will he forget who he is in the madness?
Cooper + Cooper = Devil's Double! doesn't have the same ring to it as Van Damme + Van Damme = Double Impact! but the former beats the latter hands down in the special effects department. The timing had to be spot-on when 'Dominic A' hands something to 'Dominic B' and both Cooper and director Tamahori get it just right. However, when you're noticing stuff like that it can sometimes means the movie just isn't engaging enough. This is one of those times.
Based on a true story and adapted from Latif Yahia's book, the plot of the movie is very repetitive. It can feel at times as a series of sequences of Latif sulking in a nightclub/flash car as Uday gets drunk and snorts a few lines/picks up schoolgirls off the streets. Uday shoots Latif a manic grin, Latif shakes his head in disgust. The two characters have the same conversation over and over again:
Latif: "You can't do that."
Uday: "I can do what I want."
Latif: "Okay."
There is a love triangle that doesn't get off the ground. Ludivine Sagnier is Uday's mistress and Latif is warned to stay away from her, but make eyes at each other they do. There is no warmth or love to their relationship, however, and Uday doesn't seem to care about her anyway so all that sneaking around is for nought. The Devil's Double is too black and white to work: if it softened Uday a tad, and messed around with Latif's good guy persona, it might have. However, Uday is a Caligula caricature, hysterically giggling at his cruelty, while Latif is such a straight guy he's too dry to be interesting.
Save for Cooper, who has the tough job of playing two diverse characters in the same scene, The Devil's Double would be a total disaster.

Review by Gavin Burke