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IMDbPro

The Devil's Double

  • 20112011
  • RR
  • 1h 49m
IMDb RATING
7.1/10
62K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
7,433
513
Dominic Cooper in The Devil's Double (2011)
Forced to become the body double of Uday Hussein, Latif Ahmed (Cooper) bears witness to daily life under Saddam Hussein's reign, from lavish extravagances to sadistic acts of brutality.
Play trailer2:31
2 Videos
45 Photos
BiographyDramaThriller
A chilling vision of the house of Saddam. The world of Hussein comes to life through the eyes of the man who was given a choice; either be the double for Saddam's sadistic son, or die.A chilling vision of the house of Saddam. The world of Hussein comes to life through the eyes of the man who was given a choice; either be the double for Saddam's sadistic son, or die.A chilling vision of the house of Saddam. The world of Hussein comes to life through the eyes of the man who was given a choice; either be the double for Saddam's sadistic son, or die.
IMDb RATING
7.1/10
62K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
7,433
513
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Director
      • Lee Tamahori
    • Writers
      • Michael Thomas
      • Latif Yahia(books)
      • Emjay Rechsteiner(story)
    • Stars
      • Dominic Cooper
      • Ludivine Sagnier
      • Raad Rawi
    Top credits
    • Director
      • Lee Tamahori
    • Writers
      • Michael Thomas
      • Latif Yahia(books)
      • Emjay Rechsteiner(story)
    • Stars
      • Dominic Cooper
      • Ludivine Sagnier
      • Raad Rawi
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 156User reviews
    • 155Critic reviews
    • 52Metascore
    • Awards
      • 4 nominations

    Videos2

    The Devil's Double
    Trailer 2:31
    The Devil's Double
    "Transformation"
    Clip 1:27
    "Transformation"

    Photos45

    Dominic Cooper in The Devil's Double (2011)
    Dominic Cooper in The Devil's Double (2011)
    Dominic Cooper in The Devil's Double (2011)
    Dominic Cooper and Dar Salim in The Devil's Double (2011)
    Ludivine Sagnier and Dominic Cooper in The Devil's Double (2011)
    Dominic Cooper in The Devil's Double (2011)
    Ludivine Sagnier and Dominic Cooper in The Devil's Double (2011)
    The Devil's Double (2011)
    Ludivine Sagnier in The Devil's Double (2011)
    Ludivine Sagnier and Dominic Cooper in The Devil's Double (2011)
    Jason Momoa at an event for The Devil's Double (2011)
    Lee Tamahori at an event for The Devil's Double (2011)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Dominic Cooper
    Dominic Cooper
    • Uday Hussein…
    Ludivine Sagnier
    Ludivine Sagnier
    • Sarrab
    Raad Rawi
    Raad Rawi
    • Munem
    Philip Quast
    Philip Quast
    • Saddam Hussein…
    Mimoun Oaïssa
    • Ali
    • (as Mimoun Oaissa)
    Khalid Laith
    Khalid Laith
    • Yassem Al-Helou
    Dar Salim
    Dar Salim
    • Azzam
    Nasser Memarzia
    Nasser Memarzia
    • Latif's Father
    Mem Ferda
    Mem Ferda
    • Kamel Hannah
    Pano Masti
    Pano Masti
    • Said
    Akin Gazi
    Akin Gazi
    • Saad
    Stewart Scudamore
    Stewart Scudamore
    • Father of School Girl
    Amrita Acharia
    Amrita Acharia
    • School Girl
    • (as Amrita Acaria)
    Elektra Anastasi
    Elektra Anastasi
    • School Girl 2
    Amber Rose Revah
    Amber Rose Revah
    • Bride
    Selva Rasalingam
    Selva Rasalingam
    • Rokan
    Samson Leguesse
    • Mercedes Driver
    Sarah-Lee Zammit
    • Amer
    • (as Sarah Lee Zammit)
    • Director
      • Lee Tamahori
    • Writers
      • Michael Thomas
      • Latif Yahia(books)
      • Emjay Rechsteiner(story)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    The Devil's Double

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      A very long list of sources have challenged Yahia's claims, including a former palace guard, one of the Hussein family's surgeons, a CIA officer, and at least two of Uday's confidantes. One of the latter claimed Yahia was nothing more than a lookalike who used his resemblance to pick up women.
    • Goofs
      Uday kills Kamel Hana Gegeo his father's personal bodyguard at a party celebrating the 1990 Kuwait invasion. In fact Gegeo was killed two years prior on October 1988 at a party honoring Suzanne Mubarak.
    • Quotes

      Munem: Please be clear about this, Latif. Uday has chosen you. You belong to him. You have about five minutes to think about this. Before a car pulls up outside your house in Al-Adhamiya and your family, everyone one of them - your father, your mother, your sisters and brothers; is thrown into Abu Ghraib. God willing, they will die quickly. I've said too much. You have about two minutes left.

    • Connections
      Featured in Breakfast: Episode dated 10 August 2011 (2011)
    • Soundtracks
      You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)
      Written by Pete Burns (as Peter Jozzepi Burns), Steve Coy(as Stephen Coy), Mike Percy (as Michael David Percy), Tim Lever (as Timothy John Lever)

      Performed by Dead or Alive

      Courtesy of Sony Music Entertainment UK Ltd

      Published by Burning Music Ltd (PRS), Westbury Music Ltd

      All rights on behalf of Burning Music Ltd

      Administered by Warner/Chappell Ltd

      All Rights Reserved

    User reviews156

    Review
    Top review
    A must-watch for Cooper's performance alone, but expect to be troubled as well as thrilled throughout.
    The posters for director Lee Tamahori's The Devil's Double (18) declare it to be "Scarface of Arabia", referring both to Brian De Palma's 1983 gangster opus Scarface and the film's setting during Saddam Hussein's brutal rule in Iraq. The Devil's Double is based on the true story of Latif Yahia, an Iraqi soldier chosen by the regime to be the body-double of the dictator's infamous son Uday, with both roles played by Dominic Cooper.

    The perks of the job are acceptable: enough designer clothing and willing women to make the average Premiership footballer looking like a trappist monk. However, the downsides are considerable too: torture, being shot at – and the fact that the penalty for seeking alternative employment is the death of Latif's entire family.

    Dominic Cooper stars in Devil's Double with Ludivine Sagnier.

    Dominic Cooper stars in Devil's Double with Ludivine Sagnier.

    It is easy to see why The Devil's Double has been compared to a gangster film. All the whirring, terrifying madness of Uday's world is depicted with the brutal verve one finds in Scarface and other films of its ilk. Instigating nightclub orgies while American bombs are exploding and shooting at loyal companions in psychotic rages are all part of Uday's regular routine.

    The direction, intermingling footage of Operation Desert Storm with debauchery, captures the craziness of Uday and Latif's world with a lurid style.

    Again, like a great underworld film, Cooper's performance as the central villain is masterful, capturing Uday's menacing madness and chewing the scenery in between sucking breasts or shovelling cocaine up his nose. His performance as Latif is equally striking, but in a more nuanced way. We are never in doubt which one Cooper is portraying; his sickened desperate body language showing through even when Latif is Uday.

    Yet this film is not Scarface, and Uday is not Tony Montana. Tony Montana, like most anti-heroes found in films depicting criminals, had a form of morality. It may have been a twisted, cocaine-fuelled morality but it was one none the less. Uday has no morality; worse than that, he's evil even by the standards of his father, a man who thought nothing of gassing entire ethnic groups. This gives the film a heart of darkness. Uday is possibly one of the most horrifying characters ever to grace a cinema screen, proving it at regular harrowing intervals with crimes of a scarcely believable depravity.

    This leads me to the film's central flaw. Despite Cooper's performance, Latif's story never quite feels as compelling as it should be. The script at times makes a good man's forced descent into hell on Earth seem more like a mob underling's troubled conscience upon witnessing his boss go too far. One scene, which directly juxtaposes his actions in saving others from Uday's horrors, doesn't have anywhere near the emotional resonance it should. One gets a sense that in trying to show us a world in which a moral compass is more likely to be thrust into the genitals of an innocent than providing any sort of guidance, the film has lost some of its humanity along with its protagonists.

    Despite these flaws, though, The Devil's Double is still an excellent film. It is a brave attempt to portray a difficult and scarcely believable story. Even its failure to completely emote is understandable given the skill with which it presents its harrowing world. Due to this, and possibly the performance of the year from Dominic Cooper, its flaws are eminently forgivable.

    Verdict: ●●●● A must-watch for Cooper's performance alone, but expect to be troubled as well as thrilled throughout.

    Read more reviews on www.theupcoming.co.uk
    helpful•44
    43
    • the_upcoming
    • Aug 18, 2011

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • September 8, 2011 (Netherlands)
    • Countries of origin
      • Belgium
      • Netherlands
    • Official sites
      • Official Facebook
      • Official Site
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Bản Sao Của Quỷ
    • Filming locations
      • Grand Hotel Excelsior, Malta
    • Production companies
      • Corsan
      • Staccato Films
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $19,100,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $1,361,512
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $96,414
      • Jul 31, 2011
    • Gross worldwide
      • $5,728,213
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 49 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.35 : 1

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