Dominic Cooper "doubles"Up

Full disclosure: we haven't yet seen The Devil's Double in entirety, but we hav seen it in sufficient measure (diverse clips, excerpts, interviews) to offer the following:

This is a breakout role for lead actor Dominic Cooper, who essentially plays two cahacters and three personas, namely former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's misanthropic, sex- crazed son Uday, Latif Wahia, the army lieutenant who is "co-opted" into being body-double, or fiday ( translates as "bullet catcher" ) for Uday, and of course, he plays Wahia playing Uday.

This compelling real-life conundrum -the film's based on Wahia's memoirs - becomes an equally compelling, if gleefully over-the-top entertainment in the hands of the experienced yet mercurial Lee (Once Were Warriors); the audience sees the full scope of Uday's "take anything, kill anyone" ethos, and the inner moral conflict that Wahia faces in doing the bidding of such a reprehensible individual.

Of course, there's enough sex, violence and intrigue to satisfy the escapist in all of us, bit this is primarily a story about obsession, and it's limits.

As Uday says to his new fiday, "I will never let you go."

From Iraq to New York (with Boston in between)

Seems like iconic anti-hero Snake Plissken is set to return. Renner, by the way, also gave an excellent turn in The Town (set in Boston), directed by Ben Affleck

The Hurt Locker star Jeremy Renneris in "close talks" to take the lead in the remake of John Carpenters1981 sci-fi classic Escape From New York. Bloody-disgusting.com reports that discussions are in early stage and that Renner is yet to sign up to play the film's anti-hero Snake Plissken, who was originally played by Kurt Russell.

Breck Eisner, who remade George A Romero's The Crazies last year, is attached to direct the project, which had previously seen Len Wiseman,Brett Ratner and Jonathan Mostowall tipped to be behind the camera. 

There are concerns that Renner's schedule could be too busy for the actor to take the role on as he is currently shooting Mission: Impossible 4 before playingHawkeye in Marvel's The Avengers.

Escape From New York was one of the 80's biggest commercial hits, grossing over $50 million worldwide. A sequel, Escape from LA, was released in 1996.