DVD Reviews

The Devil’s Double - Blu-ray Review

By Jeff Swindoll Nov 18, 2011, 15:30 GMT

Based on a gripping, unbelievable true story of money, power and opulent decadence, Lionsgate’s THE DEVIL’S DOUBLE takes a white- knuckle ride deep into the lawless playground of excess and violence known as Baghdad, 1987.   Summoned from the frontline to Saddam Hussein\'s palace, Iraqi army lieutenant Latif Yahia (Dominic Cooper) is thrust into the highest echelons of the "royal family" when he’s ordered to become the ‘fiday’ – or body ...more

Dominic Cooper does double duty as both the mad Uday Hussein and his thoughtful doppelganger and shines in both capacities.  The comparisons to Scarface are both superfluous and well deserved or am I being two-faced?

Iraqi army officer Latif Yahia (Dominic Cooper) is brought to the presidential palace in Baghdad.  Uday Hussein, Saddam’s (Philip Quast) eldest son and heir apparent, has chosen Latif to be his body double. 

After being tortured and threatened to take the job, Latif finds himself in both the lap of luxury and the lair of a madman.  He soon develops a relationship with Sarrab (Ludivine Sagnier), one of Uday’s “concubines.”  If the possessive Uday found out about this dalliance he would certainly kill Latif, but Sarrab is also attracted to the kind and thoughtful imposter with the face of a killer. 

A killer most definitely as Uday cruises looking for schoolgirls to rape and kill.  Soon Latif will want out of this deal with the devil and the devil will not appreciate his mirror image getting out of his grasp.

If even a scintilla of what is portrayed is true, then the Hussein household was one of insanity and excess.  It’s an example of absolute power corrupting absolutely.  I have no doubts that Uday and company were no saints, but the storyline is certainly flavored by the fact that it came from the book by the real life Latif and I’d imagine that some of it was fictionalized by Hollywood (no offense, but neither the real life main characters are as ripped as Cooper is). 

What cannot be argued is that Cooper devours his dual role and comes out as the real reason to watch the movie.  There are some comparisons with Scarface (dig that completely gold covered poster and slipcover) but that this horror show was drawn from reality is even more disturbing. 

Something else disturbed me about the movie and it was almost a deal breaker… almost.  The film is humming along quite nicely (well, for the subject matter) and I was just thinking that Cooper was fantastic and that they did an excellent job making him appear in two places at once. 

Then there’s a scene in the middle of the film that features the worst CGI ever imaginable.  I don’t know if they ran out of money at that point, but it’s jarring and poorly done.  Maybe everything before was done with force perspective or something, but it didn’t seem so.  Still, Cooper’s performance makes up for it.  I just wish that hadn’t happened.

The Devil’s Double is presented in a 1080p high definition transfer (2.35:1).  Special features, all in high definition, include a commentary from director Lee Tamahori, the 16 minute “True Crime Family” is part history lesson, part making of, the 9 minute “Double Down with Dominic Cooper” about the dual role, and the 8 minute “Real Devil’s Double” interview with the real Latif. 

There are some bumps along the way, but he Devil’s Double showcases a grand performance from Cooper and a look at a family that certainly made their country a small subdivision of hell thanks to their excesses and horrors. 

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