Twice As Vice

CAST: Dominic Cooper,Ludivine Sagnier,Raad Rawi

Rating: **1/2

This film is based on the “true account” of an Iraqi soldier who was forced to fill in as the double of Saddam Hussein’s elder son,Uday. The cruelties that Uday inflicted on the Iraqi populace are legendary,as are stories of his limitless debauchery,torture of prisoners,and rapes.

Latif Yahia,who wrote a book by the same name,says he was threatened that his family would be killed if he didn’t agree to Uday’s demands. Cooper,in one of his biggest roles,essays the characters of Uday and Latif. And he plays them with a swagger worthy of a Hollywood venture with $20 million riding on it. He isn’t bad; in bringing forth two different guys in starkly different positions,he is surprisingly effective. It’s just that this film views Iraq and the Husseins with such coloured lenses that only one hero can fit the frame. And that hero is Yahia,whose account has been questioned for its authenticity.

Iraq under Saddam and the first Gulf War is indeed a fascinating story but The Devil’s Double spends more time inside Uday’s bedroom,including on a woman (Sagnier) who,not surprisingly,guesses Yahia’s secret and falls for him,taking unbelievable risks in the process.

However,the film perhaps does no bigger disservice than reducing Saddam to a few brief appearances,in which he appears more like an indulgent father whose son has gone out of his hands than the dictator whose actions spawned such behaviour. The story of the country is largely a series of episodes,each more astonishing than the other in illustrating Uday’s excesses — including disemboweling his father’s aide at a dinner party — and each ending with Yahia fuming in disapproval.

Nobody questions Uday’s authority but Yahia,nobody succeeds at it but Yahia,nobody looks as good as Yahia,and nobody is as clever as Yahia.

Iraq may have never got the hero it needed against Uday but Hollywood obviously can’t do without a beefy,goodlooking knight in shining armour.

shalini.langer@expressindia.com