Had George Bush simply needed to furnish a weapon of mass ridiculousness to justify his Iraq war, an advance copy of The Devil's Double would've come in mighty handy.

Lee Tamahori's Uday Hussein biopic showcases the prodigal son of the world's most evil clan as a sort of oversexed/overdrugged/bi-polar and over-the-top Tony Montana for the post-post war video game age.

Don't be surprised if this portrayal of Uday - a depraved yet restrained and gritty melodrama about the peril of power going unchecked - vaults Dominic Cooper's send up to hip hop's next iconoclastic cinematic hero.

Cooper, who turns in a Parent Trap-type performance as both Uday and thoughtful Iraqi lieutenant who is given a surgical makeover to serve as his official stand-in, lets the blustery tone of the Armani-wearing, golden Glock-wielding, bride-stealing, slash and burning madman torturer and child rapist overtake him.

The caricature of Uday, a blabbing horse-toothed moron whose unchecked insecurity leads only to quick demise for those in his wake, could have been considered parody - we're it not true. Any other reason the audience clapped when word of Uday's 2003 death popped up post go-dark?