Starring Sacha Baron Cohen and Ken Davitian
Directed by Larry Charles
Rated R
5 Pulses
Sacha Baron Cohen is a genius. If his work on HBO’s “Da Ali G Show” wasn’t convincing enough, Borat has swayed me.
It’s the most hilarious movie I’ve seen. Ever.
I’m talking from the first moment to the last, non-stop laughter. And gut-busting, eyes-watering kind of laughter, where just when you think you’ll be able to catch your breath, it comes on stronger and makes you laugh even harder.
Borat, for those of you unfamiliar with the character, is a Kazakhstan reporter and in this flick, he travels to the United States with friend Azamat (Davitian) to learn valuable lessons to take back to his country. When he discovers “Baywatch” and Pamela Anderson while in New York City, his plans change and the two end up on a crazy, cross-country adventure so Borat can find and marry her.
As he makes his way across the country in classic roadtrip flick style, Borat and Azamat encounter an irate rodeo crowd, boys in the hood, a sophisticated Southern supper and more, all to hilarious effects along their journey.
In presenting this character to U.S. audiences, Cohen challenges our notions of political correctness and points out the absurdities of our culture in the most hysterical manner. We’ve begun to use political correctness as such a crutch that it’s become bullshit and it’s refreshing to see someone deny it. Borat manages to show the absurdity of it all.
Maybe my mind’s just sick and twisted, but I’m not offended by his approach.
Yeah, OK?at times I was ashamed I laughed so hard at his racism, ignorance and direct Anti-Semitism (because Cohen is Jewish, you can see the irrationality of it so clearly), but his presentation is so smart and so clever that you can’t stop yourself from laughing.
Not to mention that, with the guerrilla-style filmmaking, which is shot in a raw documentary style and largely unscripted, the funniest bits are the American public’s reactions to his crazy antics, from losing his chicken on a NYC subway to joining a Southern Baptist revival in Texas.
Directed by Larry Charles, who has ties to TV’s “Seinfeld,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and “Entourage,” Borat may not be for everyone. His humor could easily offend, but if it does, maybe you take life in these United States a little too seriously and could use the douse of humor to lighten things up a bit.
