The Devil's Double

R

Released Jul 29, 2011

1h 49m

Action

Drama

Biography

Mystery & Thriller

List

55%

104 Reviews

Tomatometer

64%

10,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Having been forced to act as a body double for one of Saddam Hussein's sons, Latif Yahia (Dominic Cooper) gives an insider's look at the life of the Iraqi tyrant.

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Critics Consensus

The Devil's Double has plenty of gangster spectacle and Dominic Cooper ably playing off his dual roles, but this crime epic struggles to balance the fun of bad behavior with the dead serious crimes of its subject.

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Liam D

The best movie by Lee Tamahori (Next, The Edge) in the last two decades and Dominic Cooper (From Hell, The Escapist) great dual performance make this strange true story a watch

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

07/27/21

Full Review

Audience Member

Well acted and directed. The story was on point for many of the rumors/instances we knew about Uday Hussein .

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/30/23

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kevin c

Dominic Cooper plays a dual role in this film about Uday Hussein, son of Saddam who forces a man who looks similar to him to become his double. Unable to see his family he tries to find a way out of the sadistic young Hussein's rule. Cooper is pretty great in both roles. Another standout is the gorgeous Ludivine Sagnier. Pretty fascinating look inside the house of Saddam Hussein.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

This is an outright chilling depiction of the House of Saddam Hussein in the late 80's in Baghdad, one known for brutality even to it's own people. You learn rather quickly that anything and everything can be bought in a sort of playground for the rich and powerful. An Iraqi soldier, Latif Yahia, is targeted by Uday Hussein, the callous and rather unstable son of Saddam Hussein to be his body double bringing. He finds himself in the heart of the beast, Saddam Husseins office and given a proposition guns drawn. If he refuses Latif's entire family would be executed, he's left with no choice and is brought on as Uday's body double. Uday a snake of a man who does whatever he wants, also praying on young women and little girls, some of these depictions are sickening. Of corse this task is extremely dangerous as Uday is a very hated man with many enemies and Latif is caught in the middle of a world of corruption and assassination attempts. Latif must now juggle his forced reality and a need to escape and regain he freedom cutting ties from the self proclaimed immortal Uday Hussein. A very satisfying look at a rather untapped piece of history to film. The kind of story that unless someone told you it actually happened this way then you'd be hard pressed to imagine it happened at all. Many won't like the total focus on Uday's depravity but it's to really hit home the fact that these gutless acts were a huge part of the war on terror as well, the fact people in power over there most times treated their own people like cattle. Dominic Cooper plays this film fantastically playing both Latif and Uday respectively. In most scenes you barely notice both are played by the same actor, the two characters are so different and Dominic hits both perfect. I highly recommend you watch this as it's a very important in depth piece of history that taps into a world most were unaware existed.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/25/23

Full Review

Audience Member

When you're a cocaine fuelled alcoholic maniac son of an Iraqi dictator you need body doubles so all the people trying to kill you get confused. Latif is one such double, a perfect doppelganger for psychopath Uday Hussein, who is unwillingly roped into his debauched world of drugs, booze, opulence and psychotic cruelty. There aren't any real surprises here about what the infamous son of Saddam got up to but it's compelling viewing anyway, even with one actor playing both major roles.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/25/23

Full Review

corkball

Movie is well done, but geez that is messed up. Like watching Goodfellows, the point is 'power corrupts'. It isn't a movie I would want to watch twice. If you are stuck in a dead end job with a hateful boss, THIS is the film for you.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

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Lee Tamahori

Director

Dominic Cooper

Latif Yahia

Ludivine Sagnier

Sarrab

Mimoun Oaïssa

Ali

Raad Rawi

Munem

Philip Quast

Saddam Hussein

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Los Angeles Times

Despite numerous pluses - Lee Tamahori's vigorous direction, handsome cinematography, outstanding production design, an impressive dual performance by Dominic Cooper as Uday and Latif - the film is more wearying than entertaining.

Nov 17, 2011

Full Review

Owen Gleiberman

Entertainment Weekly

I'm not sure what it all adds up to, but The Devil's Double puts its hooks in you and keeps them there.

Rated: B+

Sep 7, 2011

Full Review

Andrea Gronvall

Chicago Reader

Equally as offensive as the movie's smorgasbord of smut and violence is the lingering whiff of colonial-era orientalism, a Western predilection for regarding Eastern cultures as innately idle, lascivious, irrational, and thus ripe for intervention.

Sep 1, 2011

Full Review

Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

Though it’s not a very insightful or illuminating experience, it’s a visceral one that can’t help but hold your attention.

Rated: 3/4

Mar 6, 2023

Full Review

Jason Best

Movie Talk

Cooper is terrific in his two roles, but he's much better than the film itself, which is as flashy and violent as the decadent world it depicts - and just as shallow.

Dec 5, 2020

Full Review

Felicia Feaster

Charleston City Paper

[A] mercilessly long-winded film with little on its mind beyond cataloging Uday's depravity.

Jan 17, 2020

Full Review

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Synopsis

Having been forced to act as a body double for one of Saddam Hussein's sons, Latif Yahia (Dominic Cooper) gives an insider's look at the life of the Iraqi tyrant.

Director: Lee Tamahori
Producer: Harris Tulchin, Arjen Terpstra
Screenwriter: Michael Thomas
Distributor: Lionsgate Films
Production Co: Corsan, Staccato Films, Corrino
Rating: R (Graphic Nudity|Drug Use|Torture|Pervasive Language|Sexual Content|Strong Brutal Bloody Violence)
Genre: Action, Drama, Biography, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jul 29, 2011, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jul 2, 2013
Box Office (Gross USA): $1.4M
Runtime: 1h 49m

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