The story and certain situations can be quite ridiculous but at the same time, I found myself entertained by “Dear Dictator” but that could be a tiny part of nostalgia on my part, as a teenager I listened to punk music and listened to The Dead Milkmen’s “Punk Rock Girl” on replay and wanting to be different, albeit minus the writing to a dictator. “Dear Dictator” is a film worth renting!
TITLE: Dear Dictator
FILM RELEASE: 2017
DURATION: 90 Minutes
BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition, 16:9, English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, Subtitles: English
COMPANY: Cinedigm
RATED: N/R
Release Date: April 24, 2018
Directed by Lisa Addario, Joe Syracuse
Written by Lisa Addario, Joe Syracuse
Produced by Lisa Addario, Mary Aloe, Robert Ogden Barnum, Jorge Garcia Castro, Daniel Grodnik, Lucas Jarach
Executive Produced by Paul Brett, Wayne Chang, Michael Clofine, Luke Daniels, Nadine DeBarros, Paul English, Anders Erden, Kevin Scott Frakes, Sean Glover, Lila Janakievski, George Nedelkovski, Alan Pao, Buddy Patrick, Tim Smith, Peter Stewart, James Swarbrick, Nicolas Veingberg, Adrian Voo
Music by Sebastian Kauderer
Edited by Kent Beyda
Casting by Chad Darnell
Production Design by Nava
Set Decoration by Lisa Tinley Ryan
Costume Design by Roger J. Forker
Starring:
Michael Caine as General Anton Vincent
Odeya Rush as Tatiana Mills
Katie Holmes as Darlene Mills
Seth Green as Dr. Charles Seaver
Jason Biggs as Mr. Spines
Jackson Beard as Denny
When political turmoil forces a British-Caribbean dictator to flee his island nation, he seeks refuge with his pen pal, a rebellious teenage girl in suburban America, and teaches her how to start a revolution and overthrow the “mean girls” in her high school.
From filmmaking team Lisa Addario and Joe Syracuse (who wrote and directed “Lover Girl” and “Amateur Night”) comes their new comedy “Dear Dictator” from Cinedign.
Starring Michael Caine (“The Dark Knight”, “The Prestige”, “The Quiet American”), Odeya Rush (“Goosebumps”, “The Giver”, “The Odd Lufe of Timothy Green”), Katie Holmes (“Batman Begins”, “Jack and Jill”, “Dawson’s Creek”), Seth Green (“Goldmember”, “The Italian Job”, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” TV series) and Jason Biggs (“American Pie” films).
The film begins with an introduction to Tatiana Mills (portrayed by Odeya Rush), a rebellious teenager who listens to punk music and supports the dictator Anton Vincent (portrayed by Michael Caine).
Tatiana lives with her single mother Darlene (portrayed by Katie Holmes), a dental assistant who is having an affair with Dr. Charles Seaver (portrayed by Seth Green).
Because of Tatiana’s rebelliousness at school and her anti-social ways, she is looked down upon among her fellow classmates and her teacher Mr. Spines (portrayed by Jason Biggs) is concerned about her and the only thing that makes her happy is her childhood friend Denny (portrayed by Jackson Beard), who she has a crush on.
And for Tatiana, the only solace she has is writing to General Anton Vincent and communicates with him via snail mail. But she doesn’t know how bad of a dictator Anton Vincent is. But when Anton is deposed by his own people, he manages to escape his island nation and somehow manages to travel to America and heads to Tatiana’s home.
She hides him in her home and the two develop like a grandparent/granddaughter relationship and he trains her on how to be a rebel-in-training.
But how long can Tatiana hide this notorious dictator in her home without her mother and others finding out?
VIDEO:
“Dear Dictator” is presented in 1080p High Definition. Picture quality is primarily shot outdoors and overall film looks very good in HD.
AUDIO & SUBTITLES:
“Dear Dictator” is presented in English 5.1 DTS-HD MA and is a dialogue and music driven soundtrack.
Subtitles are in English.
SPECIAL FEATURES
“Dear Dictator” comes with no special features.
The premise of “Dear Dictator” and how a rebellious teenager has a dictator hiding in her home is of course a bit farfetched, but for the viewer, you just have to go along for the ride and see how the film develops.
The film revolves around Tatiana Mills, a teenager who vows to be different by being unlike anyone in her school, from listening to punk rock music, dressing punk and doing disgusting things around people (like picking old gum under the drinking faucet and chewing it). But how she is a big supporter of a notorious dictator named General Anton Vincent.
The film looks as it was inspired by Cuba’s dictator Fidel Castro and while Michael Caine is a talented actor, I was surprised to see casting not hiring a non-Caucasian actor, considering the people he represents are not white. Granted having Michael Caine is a major name to have on your film but in today’s world, these are instances where people are going to have problems with the film, right off the bat.
So, when General Anton Vincent escapes from his company when his people depose him, he somehow finds a way to travel to America, still in his military uniform and sneaks into Tatiana’s home. While farfetched, we’ll let that sly.
Tatiana is a character that is rebellious, while her mother Darlene is a lonely woman trying to support them. Unfortunately, she’s messing with her boss, Dr. Charles Seaver (portrayed by Seth Green) who has a fetish by putting his patients to sleep and having his way with Darlene (including sucking her toes).
While the two have your typical mother/daughter rebelliousness and all the dysfunctional situations, Tatiana changes when the General moves into her home and he tries to teach her how to be a rebel and going against those who pick on her. She also find herself falling for her childhood friend.
While one shouldn’t expect to come into this film for anything deep, it’s more or less a ridiculous, but so fun because it’s dumb and ridiculous that you can’t help but watch where the story of this film will take you and fortunately, by the end of the film, I can easily say that the film’s not so bad.
Sure, the story and certain situations can be quite ridiculous but at the same time, I found myself entertained by “Dear Dictator” but that could be a tiny part of nostalgia on my part, as a teenager I listened to punk music and listened to The Dead Milkmen’s “Punk Rock Girl” on replay and wanting to be different, albeit minus the writing to a dictator.
“Dear Dictator” is a film worth renting!
