During the war with Iran an Iraqi officer Latif Yahia is pulled from the front lines and taken to Baghdad . He is asked to become a double for the President's son Uday Hussain . Considering there's many dangers involved for being a double Latif is hesitant and after a quick visit to an Iraqi torture chamber Latif agrees knowing that being on the front line against the Persians was probably an easier occupation
After seeing Tom Hardy in LEGEND playing a dual role . I came back to this film which I saw a couple of times in a dodgy bar in Nepal . Unlike LEGEND this is a film that remains almost unknown which is a pity because I found it quite compelling . With hindsight I can see why there is a lot of criticism to the source
!!!!SPOILERS !!!!!
If nothing else Dominic Cooper is brilliant as both Latif and Uday and if memory serves me right he was also the best thing about Dracula Untold a couple of years ago and Cooper is probably a contender for most underrated actor in the business today . In fact I had to keep checking that it was the same actor playing Latif and Uday because the whole mannerism between the two characters are entirely different
Some journalists have questioned the whole veracity of Latif's accounts and watching the final third of the film they certainly have a point . Latif and another character escape Iraq to Malta and within minutes of arriving at a hotel they get a phone call from Uday saying he has a member of Latif's family as a hostage . Latif is shocked . "How does he know we are here ?" he gasps . Yeah I'd like to know too . Within a short space of time he survives an assassination attempt and one wonders how Saddam's secret police had the information to carry this out ?
One element of truth that does come in to play is Uday surviving an assassination attempt in 1996 which leaves him crippled but are we honestly asked to believe Latif was the triggerman ? Credibility takes an ever further dive when Latif is caught by Uday's bodyguard but is let go because the bodyguard is thankful for Latif not killing him earlier in the film . All this seems too contrived to be in anyway credible
If nothing else THE DEVIL'S DOUBLE is still worth seeing for Cooper's performance and for giving a window as to what Iraq was like under the brutal Hussain crime syndicate but take the "facts" portrayed here with a pinch of salt
After seeing Tom Hardy in LEGEND playing a dual role . I came back to this film which I saw a couple of times in a dodgy bar in Nepal . Unlike LEGEND this is a film that remains almost unknown which is a pity because I found it quite compelling . With hindsight I can see why there is a lot of criticism to the source
!!!!SPOILERS !!!!!
If nothing else Dominic Cooper is brilliant as both Latif and Uday and if memory serves me right he was also the best thing about Dracula Untold a couple of years ago and Cooper is probably a contender for most underrated actor in the business today . In fact I had to keep checking that it was the same actor playing Latif and Uday because the whole mannerism between the two characters are entirely different
Some journalists have questioned the whole veracity of Latif's accounts and watching the final third of the film they certainly have a point . Latif and another character escape Iraq to Malta and within minutes of arriving at a hotel they get a phone call from Uday saying he has a member of Latif's family as a hostage . Latif is shocked . "How does he know we are here ?" he gasps . Yeah I'd like to know too . Within a short space of time he survives an assassination attempt and one wonders how Saddam's secret police had the information to carry this out ?
One element of truth that does come in to play is Uday surviving an assassination attempt in 1996 which leaves him crippled but are we honestly asked to believe Latif was the triggerman ? Credibility takes an ever further dive when Latif is caught by Uday's bodyguard but is let go because the bodyguard is thankful for Latif not killing him earlier in the film . All this seems too contrived to be in anyway credible
If nothing else THE DEVIL'S DOUBLE is still worth seeing for Cooper's performance and for giving a window as to what Iraq was like under the brutal Hussain crime syndicate but take the "facts" portrayed here with a pinch of salt