Dominic Cooper gives an gripping, award-worthy performance in “The Devil’s Double” opening today in limited release.
Based on a gripping, true story of money, power and opulent decadence, “The Devil’s Double” takes a white-knuckle ride
deep into the lawless playground of excess and violence known as Bagdad, 1987.
The story concerns Iraqi army lieutenant Latif Yahia (Dominic Cooper) who is thrust into the highest echelons of the Iraqi “royal family” when he’s ordered to become the ‘fiday’ — or body double — to Saddam’s son, the notorious “Black Prince” Uday Hussein (also played by Dominic Cooper), a reckless, sadistic party-boy with a rabid hunger for sex and brutality. With his family’s lives at stake, Latif must surrender his former self forever as he learns to walk, talk and act like Uday. But nothing could have
prepared him for the horror of the Black Prince’s psychotic, drug-addled life of fast cars, easy women and impulsive violence. With one wrong move costing him his life, Latif forges an intimate bond with Sarrab (Ludivine Sangier), Uday’s seductive mistress who’s haunted by her own secrets. But as war looms with Kuwait and Uday’s depraved gangster regime threatens to destroy them all, Latif realizes that escape from the devil’s den will only come at the highest possible cost.
The film moves at a great pace and gives the viewer an fascinating look into the decadence of Sadam Hussein’s regime in the eighties. If you liked Al Pacino’s “Scarface,” you will love this movie. This is the film that should make Dominic Cooper a household name but with it’s limited press push, the film may find itself on the DVD shelves earlier than it deserves to.
“The Devil’s Double” is a thrill ride and well worth seeing.
We give it **** (four stars)
