Having exhausted his former television characters with big screen adapatations — "Ali G Indahouse," "Borat" and "Bruno" — "The Dictator" finds Sacha Baron Cohen bringing a brand new persona to life. Presumably with the freedom to take his imagination wherever it pleases, which is perhaps why the first trailer for this movie feels so disappointing.
In his latest venture, Cohen plays a foreign dictator who comes to America, which is a great premise, but unfortunately it seems a lot of the culturally savvy wit of his previous efforts seems to have been lost. A Kardashian joke? Really? In fact, much of this seems uninspired, with Cohen wringing most of laughs by speaking an unintelligible, Middle Eastern-sounding language. Ha ha. Megan Fox is wasted playing a whorish version of herself, who sleeps with the dictator in exchange for a handful of riches. Meh. Granted, we're only seeing half the story here as Cohen plays dual roles in film, also taking on the part of a goat herder who arrives in the states as well. This spot doesn't focus on that aspect of the story at all, which would also explain the absence of Anna Faris who plays his love interest.
But so far, we're not impressed. "The Dictator" will hit theaters on May 11, 2012. [Moviefone]
