However you feel about Sacha Baron Cohen's beyond irreverent characters, there's no denying that his next one is going to make a lot of headlines. The ridiculousness graduates to a whole new level with The Dictator, in which SBC plays a character loosely based on everybody's least favorite—Saddam Hussein. Keeping it topical, the character will also include a little bit of Qaddafi, and, it seems, a hefty loan from Borat.
The Dictator
tells the story of the title character's journey to New York City in search of an American leading lady, played by Anna Farris. If this doesn't sound crazy enough, know that the film was inspired by a novel ghost-written in the name of Saddam Hussein, Zabibah and the King, a transparent metaphor for the American invasion of Iraq. Nobody's making jokes about World War II yet, but apparently in this case it's not too soon—the flick will start what's bound to be a long and terrible reign some time next May. (E)