Colibel Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

Micitype Pretty Good

Kidskycom It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

Merolliv I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

coolbelo Really one of the very few movies that made me angry and couldnot complete it. i didnot like Saddam or his regime but this is so much exaggerating and i hope that American ppl are smarter to believe this non-sensible events.

alexdeleonfilm A chilling vision of the House of Saddam Hussein comes to life through the eyes of the man who was forced to impersonate his equally evil son.An eyeopener at Berlin, 2011, in the Panorama section, was "The Devil's Double" by New Zealand director Lee Tamahori. The setting is Baghdad at the beginning of the nineties and the devil in question is Uday Hussein, murderously depraved and psychotic son of dictator Saddam Hussein. Since he is universally hated and in constant fear of assassination he needs to have a double to stand in for him in public. The perfect look-alike double turns out to be Latif, a Kurd who is pressed into life of dangerous luxury with full access to Uday's harem -- but only when his family is threatened. English actor Dominic Cooper (32) plays both roles in perfect counterpoint and is likely to go big-time after thus, if the film is not shunned for its extremely dim view of an Islamic society and implicit approval of Bush's Gulf War against which he film is set. Geographically the location of the shoot was the Mediterraneum Isle of Malta the only country in Europe where a variety of Arabic is the official language. Fifty two year old Australian actor Philip Quast delivers a nearly credible Saddam Hussein when called upon and bosomy French actress Ludivine Sagnier provides the love interest, what there is of it.

Rameshwar IN Reviewed May 2012It neither has the subtlety nor the attention to detail one might expect of a biopic and runs along as a thrill ride concocted from the mind of some over-the-top fiction writer where the focus is more on the sleazy and gory details than the emotional side of its characters. But the last word is that it entertains. Uday Saddam Hussein (Dominic Cooper) needs no introduction as his reputation is well documented. What this movie intends to show is the perspective of his Fiday (body double), Latif Yahia (also played by Dominic Cooper). In the monarchical Iraq where eccentric Uday has no bounds to his sadistic ways, Latif a soldier of the Republican Guard is identified and offered a position as his body double without a choice. Uday and his team introduces Latif to an ultra luxurious lifestyle with quite a few tight strings attached. Latif is forbidden to contact his family and soon grows tired of Uday's antics and atrocities. All along, Sarrab (Ludivine Sagnier) a mistress Uday is quite fond of gets close to Latif and both dreams of life free from Uday's clutches. One day, Latif thinks enough is enough and does the unthinkable and the consequences are supposed to be history. The script definitely would have taken the liberty of manipulating quite a few facts for dramatic or commercial or fill-in-the-blank purposes and anyone watching the movie for historical accuracy may get disappointed. Where it succeeds is the flamboyance with which Dominic Cooper portrays the eccentric Uday Hussein and the same measured held back performance while playing Latif. Also it induces quite a few comic touches and add in a lot of nudity, vulgarity and gore the elements that are closely associated with Uday and they are the same elements that makes a product commercially viable too. No major incident reported in the history is handled with the gravity of its impact instead takes the spectacle route. Certain facts are contrived and some emotions are just laughable for a biopic, but hey who knows what was cooking in Uday's mind, he might have reacted in the exact same way. Uday was shown mostly as an immature, mindless nut with a lot of comic histrionics and unpredictable temper. There is a pattern here as I have seen a BBC biography on Uday which is handled in the exact same way as this movie, a contrast with the rest of their work. Having said all that, what finally mattered was its ability to grab my attention by bribing me with guilty fun. Do not watch it for serious cinema, there is a lighter side to the worst of elements.

Reno Rangan The film was based on the book of the same name that tells the true story of a young Iraqi man Latif, who was forced to body double the Saddam Hussein's playboy son, Uday. This is the reason I was not interested in this. Usually biopics are made to inspire the viewers, but there are negative films as well and this is one of those. Actually, it was not about the Saddam or his politics or his family, except Uday. So it was told from the perspective of Latif. How he suffered and fought back was the film focused on.After watching it so delay, I think I was wrong about it. The film is for adults, but the thing is it reveals lots of dark secrets of Uday's lifestyle. Sadly the film did not cover much of the Saddam Hussein's events. The Kiwi filmmaker did his best. Dominic Cooper's performance in the dual role was the highlight. That should be the reason to watch this, because you know like me, people are turning it away once they read whose story is this. This film is here to remind us the bad history about the bad people, other than that there's nothing in it.6/10