I had never even heard of The Devil’s Double until its wonderfully absurd poster premiered on Tuesday, and that was more than enough to make me curious. Thankfully, a trailer has just shown up at Yahoo!, and it does a good job of fulfilling my desire to know more about the film.

I found myself with a big grin on my face from the very beginning, and it stayed there until after it had ended. This thing just looks ridiculous, but in the best way possible. You have Dominic Cooper playing Uday (son of Saddam) Hussein, as well as his double (because why not!), and they seem to be taking a more cartoonish approach to a dark figure. Dan Mecca‘s review from Sundance makes it seem like it could fall in line with what’s set up here, and I’m actually pretty excited. Seriously, any piece of marketing that uses “Personal Faith” by Depeche Mode is something that I can’t take seriously, and the trailer is all the better for using it.

Watch it below:

Synopsis:

Based on a gripping, unbelievable true story of money, power and opulent decadence, Lionsgate’s THE DEVIL’S DOUBLE takes a white-knuckle ride deep into the lawless playground of excess and violence known as Bagdad, 1987. Summoned from the frontline to Saddam Hussein’s palace, Iraqi army lieutenant Latif Yahia (Dominic Cooper) is thrust into the highest echelons of the “royal family” when he’s ordered to become the ‘fiday’ – or body double – to Saddam’s son, the notorious “Black Prince” Uday Hussein (also Dominic Cooper), a reckless, sadistic party-boy with a rabid hunger for sex and brutality. With his and his family’s lives at stake, Latif must surrender his former self forever as he learns to walk, talk and act like Uday. But nothing could have prepared him for the horror of the Black Prince’s psychotic, drug-addled life of fast cars, easy women and impulsive violence. With one wrong move costing him his life, Latif forges an intimate bond with Sarrab (Ludivine Sangier), Uday’s seductive mistress who’s haunted by her own secrets. But as war looms with Kuwait and Uday’s depraved gangster regime threatens to destroy them all, Latif realizes that escape from the devil’s den will only come at the highest possible cost.

Featuring a riveting double performance by Dominic Cooper (AN EDUCATION, MAMA MIA) in the roles of Latif Yahia and Uday Hussein, THE DEVIL’S DOUBLE is a dynamic, chilling adaptation of Latif Yahia’s autobiographical novel, charting one man’s defiant struggle to survive a viper’s pit of corruption and brutality. The film is directed by Lee Tamahori (DIE ANOTHER DAY, XXX: STATE OF THE UNION) and written by Michael Thomas (BACKBEAT, SCANDAL).

The Devil’s Double opens on July 29th, 2011.

What do you think of this trailer? Does it seem like a movie that would interest you, or does it look too absurd?