Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
Directed by Larry Charles
by Jason Bogdaneris
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By now you might have heard that Borat is the funniest movie of the year and the most offensive and that Sacha Baron Cohen is absolutely fearless in his pursuit of the gag, relentlessly embodying his Kazakh reporter persona to the point of obsession. One look at the naked wrestling scene with his obese male co-star and you’ll quickly realize that he’ll go wherever it takes for the sake of comedy. He gave birth to Borat on Da Ali G Show, first in England then in America, as a sort of naïf vulgarian Chauncey Gardener (for those who remember Peter Sellars in Being There) interviewing unsuspecting citizens who preferably take themselves too seriously and with Borat’s prompting generally make asses of themselves. It’s essentially a one-note scatological/racist bit consisting of jokes about “making sex” with his sister or mother-in law and eradicating the world of Jews, gays and Gypsies. But what a note it is. He opens in “Kazakhstan” and gets out of the way the obligatory village idiot humor, but when he arrives in America on his journey of discovery, the film soars. In the United States, he has probably found the greatest straight man in history. Beginning in New York City where he plays on New Yorkers' neurotic sense of personal space, he then proceeds to meet Americans on a road trip that uses as comedic fodder frat boys, feminists, Southern rednecks, and most terrifyingly – scarier even than that naked wrestling scene — Pentacostalists who teach Borat to speak in tongues. It’s all either hilarious or jaw-dropping, and often both. But what saves it from just being a series of very funny sketches exposing American cultural retardation is a brilliantly cohesive script that includes all the parodic elements of the “road movie”: a quest (Pamela Anderson), conflict (the tension with his manager Azamat) and even a love interest (a black Alabaman prostitute). Cohen’s flawless instincts elevate this material and he knows not to mug for laughs when a raised eyebrow will do. Told by a feminist their goal is for men and women to be equal, his response is a small derisive chuckle. Perfect. There’s also lots of jokes about virgins and assholes too, if that’s your sort of thing.
Opens November 3
Opens November 3
