The Devil's Double
Herrick Entertainment | Release Date: July 29, 2011 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
52
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 28 Critic Reviews
Positive:
10
Mixed:
15
Negative:
3
Watch Now
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Buy on
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Expand

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
83
Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanJul 27, 2011
I'm not sure what it all adds up to, but The Devil's Double puts its hooks in you and keeps them there. Read full review
80
Boxoffice MagazinePam GradyJul 24, 2011
In keeping with the flamboyant clan of despots that were the Husseins, the drama is ultraviolent and over the top and made absolutely mesmerizing by Dominic Cooper's electrifying turn in both roles. Read full review
80
VarietyPeter DebrugeJul 24, 2011
The life story of Latif Yahia, body double to Saddam Hussein's diabolically unhinged son Uday, makes for slick action-movie fodder in The Devil's Double, a rocket-powered thriller. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Jennie PunterAug 4, 2011
New Zealand-born director Lee Tamahori (Once Were Warriors, Die Another Day) avoids biopic tropes, filling the screen with the jolts of a violent thriller and exploiting the few comic possibilities. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertAug 3, 2011
The movie is above all entertaining, if you enjoy human grotesquerie and flamboyant acting. Let's face it: Many of us do. There's a reason Hannibal Lecter remains the most popular villain in the movies. Read full review
75
Orlando SentinelRoger MooreJul 30, 2011
The ending smacks of Hollywood rewriting of history. But The Devil's Double shows the political consequences of Uday's misdeeds, the delicate negotiations that keep the people with grievances in line. And Dominic Cooper delivers a career-making performance. Read full review
75
ObserverRex ReedJul 26, 2011
You won't find yourself yawning. It's a great double stretch for an actor and Mr. Cooper plays both the smoldering Latif and the bombastic Uday with combustible energy. Read full review
70
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternJul 28, 2011
The movie isn't deep, or particularly intricate; it doesn't play all that much with the potential for mistaken identities, and the cruelty it depicts becomes repetitive or, worse still, desensitizing. But The Devil's Double does give us indelible images of Uday's decadence - the filmmakers say they're understated - and a double dip of dazzling acting. Read full review
70
MovielineMichelle OrangeJul 28, 2011
As it is, The Devil's Double, a handsome and occasionally dazzling thriller with at least one dynamo performance from its star, is ultimately dominated by its style. Read full review
63
Rolling StonePeter TraversJul 28, 2011
This is a breakthrough star performance from a terrific actor getting a chance to let it rip. Read full review
60
Arizona RepublicKerry LengelAug 11, 2011
By the time the film reaches its implausible climax, it is far too late to rescue the story from the limbo that lies between ugly history and slick entertainment. Read full review
60
EmpireSimon CrookAug 8, 2011
A blistering, brutal Iraqi Scarface. You do wonder what the point of it all is, but Cooper is fantastic. Twice. Read full review
60
The New York TimesA.O. ScottJul 28, 2011
As the film moves through his world of blood and sex and curdled machismo, The Devil's Double inhales some of his toxic, shallow energy. At times you feel as if you were stuck in "Grand Theft Auto: Baghdad City," which, while entertaining enough, can also become a bit wearying. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyJul 24, 2011
Undeniably fascinating as a visit to a world you'd never have wanted to have come near in real life -- that of the Hussein family's inner sanctum -- the film falls crucially short by not providing a window into the mind of the man who was coerced into acting as his double. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubNathan RabinJul 28, 2011
Dominic Cooper is electrifying yet stiff in The Devil's Double; he's simultaneously the film's biggest asset and its greatest flaw. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChroniclePeter HartlaubAug 4, 2011
Even if it means blowing more than half the budget on animal wranglers, any movie that profiles Saddam Hussein's eldest son and Iraqi psychopath Uday Hussein is incomplete without the presence of his personal zoo. It's like filming a Michael Jackson biopic and leaving out the chimp, Ferris wheel and kid who played "Webster." Read full review
50
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanAug 4, 2011
In the end, The Devil's Double is one long balance sheet. On the plus side are the dueling performances of Cooper, which anchor the film. On the minus side is a seemingly interminable litany of violence, abuse and degradation. They cheapen the film by nudging it in the direction of a splatter flick. Read full review
50
Philadelphia InquirerDavid HiltbrandAug 4, 2011
This is a straight-up gangsta film, yo. Spare us the phony redemption. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeWesley MorrisAug 4, 2011
Bring Wet-Naps to The Devil's Double. It's coated and fried in the same batter KFC uses for Extra Crispy chicken. The movie might be greasier, actually. Read full review
50
Village VoiceNick PinkertonJul 26, 2011
Ignoring all but the most obvious tensions in the Uday-Latif symbiosis, Devil's Double is static drama, with Michael Thomas's script establishing relationships as if perfunctorily pressing buttons marked "Father-Son Dynamic" and "Forbidden Love Affair," failing to dignify these themes with individuality. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineGlenn Heath Jr.Jul 25, 2011
The film's first act is wholly concerned with the juxtaposition of physical similarities and ideological opposites, and Tamahori spends entire sequences upending the balance between the two. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenAug 11, 2011
Paul Kirby's production design stands outs for its opulent re-creation of the golden glitz and ostentatious trappings of the Iraqi palace, but otherwise The Devil's Double belongs to filmdom's hoi polloi. Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierJul 29, 2011
Dominic Cooper gives a riveting dual performance in The Devil's Double, but the movie is a relentless one-note drama that loses its momentum halfway through. Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesStaff (Not credited)Jul 28, 2011
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. Read full review
40
Time OutDavid FearJul 26, 2011
This is a movie too enamored of its own tawdriness, turning every violent act and violation into gratuitously salacious grindhouse set pieces. Read full review
30
Chicago ReaderAndrea GronvallAug 4, 2011
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, and irrational, and thus ripe for intervention. Read full review
25
New York PostKyle SmithJul 29, 2011
Really it's just a trashy bid to be the "Scarface" of Mesopotamia. Read full review
25
IndieWireEric KohnJul 27, 2011
It's hard to believe that The Devil's Double doesn't intend to be a put-on. Despite a real-life basis of its plot, Lee Tamahori's fierce depiction of hedonistic Saddaam Hussein spawn Uday Hussein relegates the character to a farcical cartoon. Read full review
More From This Movie

52 Critic Reviews

7.3 User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 81 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
2 77 Project Hail Mary
3 75 Send Help
4 73 Hoppers
5 72 The Sheep Detectives
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL