Kinda-Sorta Funny in a Who-Caresy Sort of Way

Patton Oswalt used to have a bit about going to open mics when he was a younger comedian, saying there were essentially three types of performers you’d see there: people who had a voice and potential, people who were funny-but-who-cares, and lunatics. Sacha Cohen always used to seem like an intriguing 50-50 combo of potential genius and complete lunatic, and that makes it all the more disappointing to see him in The Dictator, the ultimate “funny, but who cares” movie. He even reuses some of his old jokes, like the one about how a woman in politics is like a monkey flying a plane. (Here, it’s a woman in education is like a monkey on roller skates).

I liked that joke a lot when it was in Borat, but you know a joke’s not specific when it can be used for two different characters. The Dictator is just the broadest of broad comedy. It’s like a 90-minute MTV Movie Awards sketch. Its one saving grace is that it spends the first bit so drastically lowering your expectations that you eventually accept the hammy inconsistency enough that by the end you can just chuckle along with the jokes that are so-so (and if you’ve read my writing on this website, you know I have no problem with a so-so joke). I did enjoy the shot from inside Kathryn Hahn’s vagina. That was a highlight.

It’s hard to compare documentary-style comedies like Borat or Bruno to the fully-scripted Dictator, because with the former, the plot can be the most basic, predictable framework, and that’s okay, because with people who aren’t in on the joke always standing around, there’s always the possibility of something unexpected happening. That element doesn’t exist in The Dictator, but even if we’re comparing apples to apples, the fully-staged, “running of the Jew” scene in Borat is 100 times funnier than anything in The Dictator. That was creative, wildly politically incorrect, and above all, specific. Making fun of a Muslim strongman isn’t even politically incorrect. In fact it’s probably the most politically correct. The Dictator just couches all its jokes in vulgarity to make it seem politically incorrect. It’s kind of like shitty fake punk, where you scratch your pick across the strings and grimace even though the song’s about holding hands with girls at the Dairy Queen. Jokes in The Dictator, like Admiral Aladeen saying he wants to get home so he can watch “The Real Housewives of Ahmadinehulalabajad” just don’t have the same punch as throwing money at cockroaches in case the Jews are shapeshifters. I love poop/fart/vagina humor, but less so when it’s just a crutch to prop up lazy pop culture references. HAHA, FUNNY ACCENTS AND LINDSAY LOHAN! Honestly, how much different is that than Ashton Kutcher’s Pop Chips ad? Other than that Sacha Cohen is a talented comedian and Ashton Kutcher is a buffoon, and that beard-face is acceptable while brown-face isn’t, they’re actually pretty similar.

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The Dictator opens next weekend, and Paramount just released a new red-band trailer which you can watch below. I’ve been saying over and over that Sacha Cohen is much funnier when he’s interacting with real people rather than actors like this, but this trailer does look a liiiittle funnier than the last couple. I’m not as taken as everyone else seems to be with the scene where he shoots people on the racetrack, but I absolutely love the taxi getting hit with a trash can and the little fat kid getting kicked into a product display at the convenient store. In fact I could watch two hours of fat kids getting kicked into stuff, easily. Anyway, I see this in a few days, so you’ll be able to read my in-depth breakdown of which jokes I liked and didn’t like in the next issue of Things You Probably Don’t Give a Shit About Weekly.

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I feel compelled to preface this by saying that I’m a huge Sacha Cohen fan, from his pre-HBO Ali G Show days all the way through Bruno. Even when I’m not laughing I’m mesmerized by his balls (wait, that came out wrong) and consistently impressed with his ability to stage a sociological experiment. The Dictator, however, is a departure from his last few documentary-style movies, in that the people reacting to him are actors, which robs Cohen of his biggest strength, his ability play off people who aren’t in on the joke. (If you’ve seen Ali G Indahouse, you know what exactly what I’m talking about). Paramount just released the opening scene from The Dictator online, and from the sounds of it, it seems less funny than real-time Cohen riffing at the CinemaCon presentation a few days ago:

By way of introduction, Baron Cohen claimed to have starred in movies such as “When Harry Kidnapped Sally, The 14 Year Old Virgin, and The Planet Of The Rapes“. As he told the industry audience, “My film will be released on May 16. As for your families, we’ll see.”

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Turn this photo over and it's Maria Bello in A History of Violence.

Between Will Ferrell’s announcement that there will be an Anchorman sequel and Sacha Baren Cohen’s latest film, The Dictator, it’s already a pretty great year for college dudes and bros who love to quote movies. Set to be released on May 16, The Dictator’s marketing campaign is in full swing, and so far it pretty much looks like we’re in for a typical Cohen film full of silly voices, over-the-top stereotypes and satire at the expense of our national pride.

In the latest exclusive clip, we’re treated to a double dip of stereotype as Cohen’s Dictator plays the role of the overbearing, oppressive and misogynistic Middle Eastern leader with no respect for Anna Faris as a liberated, educated American female. But of course she’s the wrong type of girl for a sexist foreigner to be messing with, because she went to a liberal arts college and took classes on feminism. How do they come up with this stuff!

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Leading up to the Oscars, Sacha Baron Cohen’s whole will-he-attend-the-Oscars-or-has-he-been-banned, or-did-he-just-purposely-get-banned-so-he-could-make-this-video shtick was getting stale before the event even started. In the end, he showed up on the red carpets in character after all, making the whole back and forth beforehand seem like that much more of a publicity stunt. I mean, it was intended as a publicity stunt from start to finish, but still, there are limits to how far you can stretch it before everyone tunes you out.

So then Cohen, dressed as Admiral General Aladeen from The Dictator, pulled the stunt you see above. I watched 90 minutes of red carpet and the entire telecast and still managed to miss it. Long story short, Cohen had an urn with Kim Jong-Il’s picture on it, saying “it was his dream to be sprinkled on the red carpet, and Halle Berry’s chest again,” and then dumped the ashes on Seacrest, who says he wasn’t in on it.

“I definitely did not know that he was going to do that!” Seacrest, 37, said Monday on On Air with Ryan Seacrest. “He comes over, and I asked him a couple of questions, but . . . You know that feeling in your gut.”
His saving grace? The advice of his mom Connie to “always make sure to bring two jackets, because you never know what’s going to happen!” [USWeekly]

That is the whitest advice ever. I bring two jackets too, but I do it in case I have to help a pretty lady cross a puddle. Anyway, obviously they weren’t actually Kim Jong-Il’s ashes, they were probably just some stray dogs’. All in all, the bit turned out far better than anyone could’ve imagined. Who could argue with Ryan Seacrest getting dumped on? Classic comedy, fun for all ages. The only way it would’ve been better is if they could’ve somehow worked in Billy Bush getting hit in the crotch with a wiffle bat.