The Devil's Double -- in which Dominic Cooper (An Education) gets to play Uday Hussein (Saddam's outright psychotic son) as well as his morally upright double -- is one such film, in which the gimmick finds a contemporary excuse.
It's also an object lesson in why serious actors often prefer villainous roles over heroic ones. Even though the story is ostensibly that of Latif Yahia, an Iraqi soldier and unfortunate former classmate of Uday's, it very soon becomes Uday's movie.
I mean, who would you rather watch: A troubled protagonist seething with rage but paralyzed by indecision? Or a larger-than-life car-wreck who Hoovers cocaine, swills liquor like Lindsay Lohan, has his way -- willing or unwilling -- with every woman who takes his fancy (from schoolgirls to brides at their weddings), and kills anyone on a whim, up to and including his father's most trusted adviser and procurer of prostitutes?
Uday also has a bit of a "mommy" thing going, being seen at one point in bed and comforted by Mrs. Saddam as if he were a child.
All in all, The Devil's Double is a movie in which the lead actor upstages himself, by miles. It's Scarface vs. moody guy. When we meet Latif, he has essentially been kidnapped off the battlefield by Iraqi security forces and faced with his one-sided decision. An uncanny resemblance to Uday (a minor dental prosthesis being the only necessary touch), leaves him with an unwanted job opportunity or consequences for his family.
Still, Latif needs time to think it over in a sweltering solitary confinement cell, before agreeing to a morally objectionable life of comfort.
Why someone who doesn't even hide his repugnance for his employer isn't simply killed in the first few scenes is a subject director Lee Tamahori dances around. It's clear by the end that there is a homoerotic element to Uday's fascination with his double. Or just plain narcissism gone into meltdown. It's baldly alluded to a couple of times, but barely explored.
Latif even goes as far as to have an affair with Uday's concubine-of-the-moment (Ludivine Sagnier), a suicidal relationship that is covered up by Uday's right-hand man and secret quisling Munem (Raad Rawi).
About the most interesting historical notion proffered by The Devil's Double is that Latif kept the regime going to some degree by making public appearances as Uday when Saddam's heir needed to appear sane and responsible and even a potential leader. He's seen in Kuwait, motivating the troops, as Uday watches and admires "his" performance on TV.
The real Latif got away to create a new life and write a book about his old one, which makes the last act a bit predictable and fatigued. By himself, Cooper as Latif is an earnest bore. The movie, ultimately robbed of the sybaritic maniac that breathed life into it, also disappears into the woodwork.
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