The Devil's Double

Dominic Cooper gives a stunning double performance in director Lee Tamahori's energetic but highly fictionalized tale based on the memoir of Latif Yahia, an Iraqi soldier who was forced to serve as a stand-in for Uday Hussein, Saddam's reckless, lustful older son. The script accepts Yahia's contention that he was a principled man—compelled to submit to the volatile Uday's outrageous demands—who always tried to do the right thing. Thus Uday is portrayed as the very image of the unrestrained id while Latif, looking on with undisguised contempt, becomes the conscience totally lacking in the dictator's son. Although this makes for a nice dichotomy, one can't help but suspect that things were actually far more morally ambiguous. What saves The Devil's Double, however, is the fact that Cooper and Tamahori go for broke. In a virtuoso turn, Cooper wallows in Uday's ostentatious malevolence, and broods as dour Latif, keeping the two characters distinct even when the double is doing his impersonation of Uday. As for Tamahori, after several inauspicious big-budget Hollywood efforts, the filmmaker successfully returns to his humbler roots here, imbuing the film with raw energy and a few shocking scenes of torture and killing (including a literal disemboweling). A romantic-triangle subplot slows things down a bit, and the film doesn't convince in strict historical terms, but it definitely works as an action-packed drama contrasting a demented villain and his right-minded doppelganger. Recommended. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include audio commentary by director Lee Tamahori, a “True Crime Family” behind-the-scenes featurette (16 min.), a “Double Down with Dominic Cooper” segment on the star (9 min.), “The Real Devil's Double” interview with Latif Yahia (8 min.), and trailers. Bottom line: a fine extras package for a powerful film.] (F. Swietek)