The Devil’s Double

Indian Express 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 evil elder son Uday. The cruelties that Uday inflicted on the Iraqi populace are legendary,as are stories of his limitless debauchery,torture of prisoners including players of the country’s national Olympic team,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 both Uday and Latif. And he plays them with a swagger worthy of a Hollywood venture with 20 million dollars riding on it.

He is not bad,in fact in bringing forth two different guys in starkly different positions,he is surprisingly effective. It’s just that this film views Iraq and the Hussein family with such coloured lenses that only one hero can fit the frame. And that hero is Yahia,whose account has itself 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,good-looking knight in shining armour.

shalini.langer@expressindia.com