6.2 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
When political turmoil forces a British-Caribbean dictator to flee his island nation, he seeks refuge and hides with a rebellious teenage girl in suburban America, and ends up teaching the young teen how to start a revolution and overthrow the "mean girls" in her high school.
Starring: Michael Caine, Odeya Rush, Katie Holmes, Seth Green, Jason BiggsComedy | 100% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 0.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
The plot conceit underlying Dear Dictator may seem positively ridiculous, but my ever aware and incredibly well informed wife alerted me to the fact that a young female denizen of her home state of Wisconsin had in fact actually written to a notorious tyrant and become pen pals with him decades ago, something that may have offered a spark of inspiration for this film's married co-writers and co-directors, Lisa Addario and Joe Syracuse. That little girl was named Sarah York and the dictator in that case was one Manuel Noriega, but much like the setup in Dear Dictator, Sarah’s “relationship” with the far off leader was evidently sparked at least in part by Noriega’s fashion sense, such as it was. Dear Dictator posits a snarky teen named Tatiana Mills (Odeya Rush) who reaches out to dictator Anton Vincent (Michael Caine) as part of an assignment from her social studies teacher Mr. Spines (Jason Biggs), and is delighted when the leader, under the throes of an incipient rebellion in his home country, takes the time to reply to her, finding her letters a bastion of calm in his troubled world. If the foundational premise of Dear Dictator is based in fact, or at least has a real life counterpart to make it seem reasonably real, what happens next is the stuff of fairy tales, albeit of the “fractured” sort featured on the old Rocky & Bullwinkle & Friends show. Tatiana, attempting to navigate the roiling world of a high school filled with Mean Girls, and also sparring regularly with her divorced mother Darlene (Katie Holmes), is amazed to find Vincent at her home one evening, after the dictator somehow gets to the United States (in an elision which is never really adequately explained) in the wake of an overthrow of his government orchestrated by the United States.
Dear Dictator is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Cinedigm with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. This is a solid if never really overwhelming presentation of a typically digitally captured feature, one whose visual qualities may never really rise to "wow" heights, but one where detail levels are generally quite pleasing in terms of things like Vincent's scraggly beard (in earlier scenes) or some of the fabrics on costumes. There's a kind of candy colored patina to several scenes, notably some of the dentist office material, where Dolores' bright yellow smock really pops vividly. Some stock footage, supposedly documenting the revolution in Vincent's home country, and some pretty astoundingly bad looking effects work that is either shoddy rear projection or equally shoddy digital matte work may in fact evoke more laughter than some of the actual writing.
Dear Dictator's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track attains some energy from Tatiana's love of punk music, and there are also several scenes in crowded environments like the school or a local mall where immersion is quite well handled. A lot of the film plays out in relatively more subdued dialogue scenes, however, and here a lot of the activity tends to be anchored front and center. Fidelity is fine, with no damage or distortion of any kind to report.
There are no supplements included on this Blu-ray disc.
I personally kind of wished Dear Dictator had played things decidedly more darkly, with Tatiana becoming even more of a despot herself as she wrestles her way up the high school hierarchy. Instead, Dear Dictator wants to have its snark and sweetness in about equal amounts, and I'm not sure that makes for an ultimately satisfying combination. Caine, Rush and Holmes are all fine in their roles, and fans of the performers may well want to check this out. Technical merits are fine if uninspiring for those considering a purchase.
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