BORAT: CULTURAL LEARNINGS OF AMERICA
FOR MAKE BENEFIT GLORIOUS NATION OF KAZAKHSTAN
Irreverent, Hysterical, Offensive: What less can
you ask for?
PopcornReel.com
Film Review: "Borat"
By Omar P.L. Moore/November 3, 2006
"Borat" more than lives up to its billing as a film that makes
audiences laugh hysterically with some of the most politically incorrect and
offensive gags and references around, but does Larry Charles' film stand tall
above its below-the-belt shtick? Just about, although the character that
the multi-talented British comic Sacha Baron Cohen plays is larger, funnier and
more engaging than the overall film itself.
Borat is a fictional Kazakhstani reporter who leaves his homeland to come to
America to find out what all the fuss is about. He leaves behind his wife,
who promises to remove his vital organs from between his legs if he cheats on
her while in the U.S. Later on he celebrates joyously with someone who has
just delivered bad news to him.
I'm in
America. Very nice! Borat (Sacha Baron Cohen) wreaks havoc in a
china store in the South; is overwhelmed by the Big Apple, in "Borat".
(Photos: 20th Century Fox)
He criss-crosses the nation with his trusty sidekick/producer
Azamat Bagatov (Ken Davitian), traveling the heartland and the south, as well as
places in between and all around. After a series of mishaps, Borat and
Azamat head to California in search of one person and one person only: Pamela
Anderson. Borat daydreams about meeting her and "entering her va-geen", a
word he frequently uses throughout the film. This quest to capture the
star takes over any reporting that he may have initially wanted to do.
Borat's malaproprisms when he speaks to people who he befriends and whom he
angers are hilarious. There is a very funny scene at a rodeo where Borat
dressed in an American flag shirt, sings the Kazakhstani national anthem.
Prior to this he warms up the presumably NASCAR-friendly rodeo crowd with such
pronouncements as "may George W. Bush drink the blood of every man, woman and
child in the world!", or something to that effect.
There are some encounters which make the audience cringe, and "Borat" is on many
occasions a worthy barometer of the sensibilities of any movie audience, to be
sure. When audiences go silent or titter nervously at some scenes it means
that "Borat" hits the satirical button and exposes the audience's own biases and
guilty pleasures. "Borat" works well and is at its best in those
situations. Maybe there is only so much obscenity that an (American)
audience can take, but occasionally there is good, clean fun as well.
But not for long.
You want scatological jokes, gags and references? You have them here.
You want endless cursing and sexual references and situations? "Borat"
does not disappoint. You want naked wrestling? You've come to the
right place. All that and much more is packed into an 84-minute film that
seems longer than it is. "Borat" is not for everyone, but it can be safely
guaranteed that everyone who sees it will find something shocking, hilarious,
offensive or entertaining. The humor in "Borat" is the kind that someone
(namely the roastee) at a comic or political roast would be faced with.
It's the brand of humor that someone in a roast may walk out on.
Sacha Baron Cohen has successfully made his imprint on American feature films.
From his HBO comedy series "Ali G", where he interviews U.S. politicians,
celebrities and commentators with a straight face, to his role in Will Ferrell's
film "Talladega Nights" this past summer, Cohen has a lot of good things going
for him. This film, as wild and crazy as it is, seems to be the icing on
the cake.
Expect a sequel soon.
"Borat" is rated R for pervasive strong crude and sexual content including
graphic nudity, and language. The film's running time is 84 minutes, as
indicated earlier. The film contains subtitles in English and Russian or
Kazakhstani, with spoken language from those nations.
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