I finally got around to seeing The Dictator.

I’ve always been a fan of Sacha Baron Cohen. Da Ali G Show was great. Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan was better than anyone could have expected. Bruno was, well, entertaining.

I had a certain set of expectations for The Dictator. Unlike Borat and Bruno, this film is just that…it’s a film. Real actors, a pre-planned plot. It was not a “mockumentary” like Cohen’s previous two flicks. So, needless to say, it had a different feel to it.

The Dictator follows Admiral General Aladeen (Cohen) as he must adapt to being an unrecognizable individual in the streets of New York City after his beautiful beard is chopped off by a racist John C. Reilly. Part love story, party political satire, part gross-out, The Dictator has all the bases covered to ensure every member of the audience has a good time.

Does it go too far? Sure, at times. But instead of flat-out disgusting images taking the movie too far, this time Cohen focuses his sights on racism and post-9/11 America. If you can find humor in even the most serious of things, at least when you’re in a dark movie theater and no one can totally recognize you, then you’ll enjoy The Dictator.

If you hate Democracy, then you’ll love The Dictator. After all, it is dedicated to the memory of Kim Jong Il. Yeah. Seriously.

The movie is consistently intriguing and Cohen is constantly captivating, whether the jokes land or not. It might be a better rental, but regardless, The Dictator is a movie you will enjoy*.

*If you enjoyed Bruno and Borat…If not, well then, what are you doing reading this review in the first place?