2006 / 84 Minutes / R
Reviewed by Dale Nauertz

“Borat” is a curious mix of fiction and reality. I’m not sure where the line between the two ends in this movie. Apparently, many of the unwitting participants in this film have begun filing law suits against Twentieth Century Fox, the company that distributes the film. That suggests to me that a great deal of the footage that looks real probably is. If these were just actors, they would have no reason to be upset. If they were merely people playing characters that were racist, misogynist and moronic, they’d have nothing to complain about. But, as I suspected all along, the people saying the dumbest things in this film are sincere about them, and that makes Sacha Baron Cohen, the mastermind of this film and the man who portrays the titular character, more than a great comedian. It makes him an amateur sociologist…and something of a genius.

Borat, the title character of the film, is a fictional creation devised by Sacha Baron Cohen. I first fell in love with Borat while watching “Da Ali G Show” on HBO. As Ali G, a rap-obsessed white guy in Britain, Cohen was funny enough. But when he hit the American road as Borat, Cohen was simply inspired. Borat is a reporter for Kazakhstan television sent to America to learn what makes America such a great country. He brings along a small documentary crew consisting of his grossly overweight producer (Ken Davitan) and, I would assume, a cameraman that we never actually see. They arrive in New York to learn what they can of American culture so that they can “make benefit the glorious nation of Kazakhstan” and soon take their search for cultural improvement from one coast to the other, driving the highways of America in an old ice cream truck. Along the way, they have largely unscripted encounters with many American citizens, most of which do not come off in a very good light. As an interviewer, Borat gives his subjects just enough rope to hang themselves. He lets them ramble on and express their own opinions, adding fuel to the fire with his own ignorant foreigner remarks. He allegedly told them that no one outside of Kazakhstan would ever see this footage (which explains how so many of them signed the waivers) and then got them to reveal their true colors by acting like the most clueless foreign visitor of all time. I am not surprised that so many of the interview subjects bought Cohen’s shtick hook line and sinker. Sascha Baron Cohen remains in character better than anyone since Andy Kaufman.

Aside from his total commitment to character (you try staying in character while wrestling a 300 pound man in the nude) Cohen bears comparison to Kaufman in another way: this man seems completely fearless. He interviews black youth at midnight in the ghetto. He sings a phony Kazakhstan national anthem, which defames America, at a Deep South rodeo. He attacks a famous celebrity (I’m not sure whether he told this person about it in advance, but judging from the profound shock in this person’s face, I’m thinking not…the person in question has never acted this well in their life). He shares an ice cream truck with an actual bear. I’d place Cohen in the same basic league as the “Jackass” guys. This man has iron balls.

But is it funny? That’s the question you’re now asking yourself. And the answer is: Hell Yes! I was doubled over laughing at most of this film. I was often amazed at what I was seeing, but I simply could not stop myself from busting a gut over it. This is the most hilariously offensive movie made in years. During its running time it will make black people, Southerners, Russians, Kazakhstanis, the Jewish community, Christians, feminists, homophobes, homosexuals, gun enthusiasts, rednecks and gypsies equally uncomfortable. Like Matt Stone and Trey Parker, Sacha Baron Cohen is an equal opportunity offender. He’s quite democratic about making everyone and anyone who crosses his path look and feel foolish. He even prompts and pushes quite a few of them into looking even more foolish. Cohen’s got a real gift for comic timing, for pushing people’s buttons, and for spontaneity. When he checks into a bed and breakfast and learns that the owners of the establishment, he uses his character’s anti-Semitism to create one of the most hilarious sequences of the film. But, before you become outraged, realize that Cohen himself is a devout Jew. This reminds me, again, of Andy Kaufman. Kaufman was a vegetarian and health nut who never drank or smoked and treated his body like a temple. Yet when Andy transformed himself into insulting lounge singer Tony Clifton, he would drink, smoke, eat steaks and swear profusely. Cohen has the same level of commitment to his art and even if you don’t think either man creates great art, you’ve got to respect them for that commitment. Cohen’s also got a real gift for crafting comedy rooted in character and in inherently human situations. Hell, he even manages to create genuine emotion toward this character. You actually feel bad for Borat at times, even if he is fictitious, and even if he is something of a backward, racist pervert.

Cohen and the film’s director, Larry Charles, also create some ingenious comedic set pieces. The opening fifteen minutes, in which Borat gives us a tour of his village in native Kazakhstan, are the most openly fictional of the film and probably the funniest part. Cohen and his cohorts do an excellent job with scripted comedy as well. One of my coworkers remarked that this opening material was as good as anything in a 70’s Woody Allen film, and I’d have to say he was pretty accurate in this observation.

If the film has a problem it’s that it doesn’t have much of a plot. Then again, a film rooted in reality can’t have too much of a plot. It’s more like a documentary and is, therefore, more free-flowing. Davitan and Cohen are geniuses with their characters, but they can’t keep a few bits from running on a bit longer than they should (though the editors of the film must be commended for keeping the movie quick-moving and lively). Nor can they stop some segments of the film from becoming just a tad too cruel. This is the only comedy I can think of that manages to generate palpable suspense. There are moments of “Borat” where I was on the edge of my seat, cringing, wondering how these real people would react to Borat’s often offensive shenanigans.

“Borat” is utterly hilarious, and that would be enough for me to recommend it. But it’s also dangerous, thought-provoking and downright inspired at times. And that’s even better. “Borat” isn’t just the funniest movie you’re likely to see this year, it also exposes human prejudice and close-mindedness better than any film in recent memory. It’s easily one of the best films of the year.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 15th, 2006 at 11:42 am and is filed under Dale's Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.