The Devil's Double

A ballsy, guns-a-blazin’ depiction of Uday Hussein and his reluctant body double during the first Gulf War. British actor Dominic Cooper plays both parts and he NAILS it, drawing superb distinctions between the two men, one a quiet, decent and dutiful soldier and one the psychopathic rapist son of a megalomaniacal, murderous dictator. Director Lee Tamahori aims for a true-life Scarface, but embellishments abound in a calculated effort to gloss over the horrible truth of Uday Hussein’s barbarism and spin an over-the-top piece of pulp fiction. It’s a well-made movie, but also a pro-war, “These guys had it comin’...” agitation, akin to, but not quite equal to, Inglorious Basterds.