20th Century Fox Starring: Sacha Baron Cohen
Directed By: Larry Charles
Rated: R (Language, Crude Humor, Nasty Hairy Male Nudity)
20th Century Fox
Wow. What can I say about this film? Well...for starters, Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (hereafter referred to as Borat) without a doubt has the longest name of any movie I've ever reviewed (or seen, for that matter). It's also funny. And disturbing. And it makes me squirm a bit from time to time.
Borat follows the adventures of Borat Sagdiyev , a television reporter from Kazakhstan who has been sent to America to make a documentary about life in the United States. For those of you who might not be in on the joke, Borat isn't a real reporter--he is British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen. The fact that so many people seem not to be in on the joke is what Cohen and director Larry Charles were counting on when they made this film. The basic premise is to introduce Borat into a variety of private and public social situations and allow the people he meets and interviews to interact with him and react to him.
The character of Borat (and the film as well) portray Kazakhstan as a backward, third-world nation where sexism, anti semitism, homophobia, and fun-loving rapists are a part of every day life. Cohen plays borat as a card-carrying member of this backwater society just to see how people in the (supposedly) progressive United States react to his antics. Sometimes, it's just plain funny--like when Borat attends a dinner party and one of the southern ladies present just about bends over backwards to help him fit in (even going so far as to show him how to use the toilet). Other times, it's just plain disturbing--like when Borat attends a rodeo and gets a cheer from the American crowd when he says he hopes that Bush kills every Iraqi and drinks their blood, and when an older gentleman says he wishes they could just kill all the homosexuals in the country. It is in situations like this where the film transcends comedy and farce and gives us a look at the ugliness that lurks just below the surface of seemingly normal, well-adjusted American people.
Most of the time, though, it's kind of silly. By about two thirds of the way through the film, I found myself growing a little weary of the schtick. I mean, the audience is in on the joke. How many times can you watch the same comedy bit over and over and still find it funny. Not to mention, this kind of confrontational comedy--where someone is unwittingly made to look stupid for laughs--has always made me a bit uncomfortable. And I think most of it was unwitting on the part of Borat's "victims." There are several lawsuits pending against Cohen because of the film--people who feel they were ambushed into being on camera. And that's just from the ordinary people--I'm shocked that people like Alan Keyes (who was beaten by Barak Obama in the 2004 Senate race) haven't made more of a stink about being made fools of. And I still wonder how Cohen escaped being beaten to death when he accosted Pamela Anderson. Her body guards at least must have been in on the joke...
There's no way in good conscience I could recommend this film to everyone. But if you like your humor crude, and you aren't bothered by humor that is often the result of an unwitting person being made a fool of, you'll enjoy it. I have to admit...I enjoyed it in spite of my misgivings.
Bottom line: Crude and vulgar...but also funny--and occasionally uncomfortably enlightening.