The Devil's Double (2011)

The Devil's Double is a 2011 English-language Dutch-Belgian biographical thriller film directed by Lee Tamahori, written by Michael Thomas, and starring Dominic Cooper in the dual role of Iraqi military commander Uday Hussein and his body double Latif Yahia. It was released on 22 January 2011 at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and was released in limited theaters in the United States on 29 July 2011 by Lionsgate and Herrick Entertainment to mixed critic reviews.

Plot

In 1987, Latif Yahia, an Iraqi soldier fighting in the Iran–Iraq War, is called to become a "fedai" ("body double" or political decoy) for Uday Hussein, the son of president Saddam. Latif comes from an upper-class family and attended school with Uday, where students would remark on their likeness. He refuses the position. Furious, Uday has him imprisoned and tortured. Latif relents when his family is threatened. Latif undergoes cosmetic surgery to perfect his resemblance to Uday and practises emulating the latter's mannerisms and persona. Latif tries to resist Uday's exorbitant merrymaking and erratic behaviour, at one point fleeing a nightclub to attempt to see his family, who believe that he died in the war. However, he is apprehended by Uday's bodyguards and beaten by Uday. After an appearance at a conference with Kuwaiti leaders, an attempt is made on Uday's (Latif's) life, apparently by a member of a rebel opposition group, possibly a Kurd. The real Uday, though, is more concerned with the Kuwaitis, whom he believes were slant drilling into Iraq's Rumaila oil field. The First Gulf War is launched.

Uday eventually kidnaps a 14-year-old girl and forces her to escort him to a party. There, Uday becomes enraged with Saddam's personal bodyguard Kamel Hana Gegeo. Uday believes that Gegeo facilitated an affair Saddam had, which devastated his mother. Uday is also jealous at the trust Saddam places in Gegeo. When Gegeo passes sarcastic comments about Uday's advances towards the girl and drunkenly fires an AK-47 in the air, Uday butchers him with an electric knife in front of the guests. The next morning, Uday's bodyguards dump the girl's beaten, partially naked body. Furious, Saddam goes to the hospital, where Uday is overdosed on sleeping pills. Saddam beats Uday and nearly castrates him. Only the intervention of a doctor saves him. As the war is in full swing, Latif tries to distance himself from Uday and begins an affair with Sarrab, one of Uday's lovers.

Latif, acting as Uday, is later sent to Basra to rally support among Republican Guard soldiers as Coalition forces take control of the war. At Basra, another attempt is made on Latif's life. Latif nearly loses a finger in the assault, which would mean Uday would have to amputate his own finger to maintain their resemblance. Uday enters a hospital and threatens to slaughter everyone in it if they fail to save his finger. The doctors succeed.

Afterwards, Uday, accompanied by his usual party, crashes a wedding, eventually raping and beating the bride, who then commits suicide. Angry, Latif assaults Uday but is corralled by the latter's bodyguards, who threaten to kill him. Uday stops them. Later, Latif is confronted by the father of the girl Uday killed. Uday overhears them and is outraged by the man's pleas for "justice" and "compassion". Uday orders Latif to kill the man, but Latif refuses and instead slits his own wrists. He is dumped half-dead on his family's front door. After Latif recovers, he confronts Uday at his birthday party. The confrontation escalates to a shootout and Latif escapes in Uday's Mercedes with Sarrab. The two escape to Valletta, but Sarrab, fearing for her daughter in Iraq, calls Uday begging for the chance to return without being harmed. A would-be assassin sent by Uday misses shooting Latif when they arrive on the island. Angered by Sarrab's carelessness, he washes his hands of her. Uday later calls, offering Latif one final chance to return to Iraq, threatening to kill his father if he refuses. Latif's father encourages him not to return and is killed.

Latif returns to Iraq to kill Uday, aided by the man whose bride killed herself. They ambush Uday while he is attempting to lure young girls into his Porsche. Although his partner is killed, they wound him severely. One of Uday's bodyguards catches up to Latif as he flees the scene. However the guard is one who Latif could have killed at Uday's birthday party but spared, and the guard extends him the same courtesy.

Latif later lives in Ireland with his wife and their two children. Uday is permanently handicapped by the attack but survives until his killing by U.S. forces in 2003.

Cast

Dominic Cooper as Latif Yahia / Uday Hussein

Philip Quast as Saddam Hussein / Faoaz

Mem Ferda as Kamel Hana

Dar Salim as Azzam Al-Tikriti

Jamie Harding as Qusay Hussein

Ludivine Sagnier as Sarrab

Mimoun Oaïssa as Ali

Akin Gazi as Saleeh

Amrita Acharia as Schoolgirl

Frida Cauchi as Sajida Talfah

Raad Rawi as Munem

Khalid Laith as Yassem Al-Helou

Pano Masti as Said Kammuneh

Nasser Memarzia as Latif's father

Tiziana Azzopardi as Latif's sister

Abner Fabbro as Soldier

Production

A Belgian and Dutch production, the film was shot in Jordan and Malta.

Reception

Critical response

The film received mixed reviews, though much critical acclaim has been given to Dominic Cooper's dual role. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 54% of 102 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.7/10/10. The website's consensus reads: "The Devil's Double has plenty of gangster spectacle and Dominic Cooper ably playing off his dual roles, but this crime epic struggles to balance the fun of bad behavior with the dead serious crimes of its subject." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 52 out of 100, based on 28 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.

IGN awarded it 3.5 out of 5 and said "certainly a fresh perspective on one of the Middle East's most brutal dictators".

Accolades

Notes

References

External links

The Devil's Double at IMDb

The Devil's Double at Box Office Mojo

The Devil's Double at Rotten Tomatoes

The Devil's Double at Metacritic

The Devil's Double at Official site