Not as enjoyable as it should be

Rating: 6/10 (4 December 2006)

Sacha Baron Cohen is a very unique comedian in my opinion. He is undeniably intelligent, can be very very funny and he seems to have no single ounce of shame in his whole body. While that is his strength, it's also his Achilles heel.
For those who have watched the Ali G-show and other Baron Cohen-outings, Borat is not a new character. I have often found the Borat-segments to be among the funniest in his shows. The happy and easy-going, but always misunderstanding, Kazak brings out both the best and worst in the people he meets. Cohen does a good job of bringing out peoples prejudices and strange (and often "forbidden") opinions through the seemingly ignorant Borat. In this movie we get to see him provoking people at a rodeo, at a dinner party and at several other public events.
The thing with this movie is that i don't know if most of it was really that funny. Most of the time i was just shaking my head in disbelief. Sure there are a few laugh-out-loud moments, but most of it is just so embarrassing it's hard to watch. He does so many "forbidden" things that he soon becomes a walking faux pas. Which is funny for a while but becomes more painful after a while.
In the end this becomes one of those cases where i can see what they were thinking, can appreciate the effort, but in the end the result is not as enjoyable as it should have been. After all, there are just so many times i can hear him call people retards, bashing homosexuals and Jews before it becomes old. Borat is a funny character but i think i prefer him in smaller doses, this becomes almost overpowering. For those who can't get enough of the embarrassments this should be a treat though. For the sensitive people it's, as always with Cohen, best to stay away. I rate this 6/10.