Movie Review: The Devil’s Double

The Devil’s Double is based on a book by the same title written by the protagonist in the movie, Latif Yahia. Yahia, who bore a striking resemblance to Saddam Hussein’s oldest and psychotic son, Uday, is forced through torture and threats to his family to become Uday’s “fidai” or body double. What happens afterward is a juxtaposition of Jekyll and Hyde, but in two bodies instead of one.

The movie does not hold back in displaying how impulsive, insane, perverse and vicious Uday Hussein was in life. There are a few scenes sure to make you cringe, particularly during a party when one of Saddam’s closest friends decides to fire off a rifle while Uday is in the beginning moments of having sex with an under-aged schoolgirl. Despite the consequences sure to come if he acted irrationally, we see Uday losing control, something that happens often throughout the film.

Meanwhile, Latif is in a constant struggle of being dutiful for family, perhaps country in the beginning at the very least, but he fools himself knowing fully the facade before him. However, he is a man stuck, unable to move despite having every material need a man could want at his disposal – a seeming perk of being Uday Hussein’s double. None of it matters as Latif is a man of principle and not material.

The film dramatizes certain events, especially at the end, but all of it seems believable whether true or not and that speaks well of the performance by Dominic Cooper who does a masterful job playing both Uday and Latif. Honestly, how he didn’t receive some sort of acting award nomination is beyond me. His acting ability blew me away and considering the premise of the film, Cooper delivers in successfully separating the monster and the man between the two main characters. However, he also does a great job in showing the struggle within Latif and how his life is blurring into Uday’s. It’s an acting job that is definitely one of the better ones in 2011 and Cooper carries this movie without question. I was totally absorbed into the story because of how Cooper pushes it through with his performance.

The Devil’s Double is essentially about the conflict of man and the giving into the appetites of sex, violence, and death. It is this latter element that will have fans of gangster films nodding their head in approval. Uday Hussein is right up there with any megalomaniacal, bloodthirsty, sexually deviant, and mentally unstable character put forth into a movie. Latif Yahia is the opposite and the title of both the film and book is a misnomer. What wouldn’t be a misnomer is Dominic Cooper the great actor.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.0

Released: July 29, 2011
Rated: R