Funny at times, but offensive to Jews

Rating: 7/10 (15 November 2006)

Borat is funny at times, as he visits the U.S. from Kazakhstan to do a documentary on his experiences. However, much of the humor is gross and sophomoric, and hardly funny for mature adults. Most troubling for me as a Jewish person is the many scenes and statements that are offensive in the extreme to Jews, and include some of the worst stereotypes. I can't believe that other people, even of other faiths, have not picked up on these instances and denounced the movie for that reason. Can you imagine any film that included similar "jokes" about African-Americans? I cannot, which makes this one so intolerable. In his politically incorrect interview with feminists, at least they're given a chance to reply, unlike the Jews
OK, there were some funny and imaginative episodes but they lacked subtlety, good taste or redeeming social value. Very few sequences made me laugh, since they were somewhere between amusing and mildly funny. I rated this film SEVEN for being creative and fast-paced, but would put it near the bottom of the scale if judged strictly for sensitivity to Jews.
I realize Sacha Baron Cohen is Jewish, but that does not justify for me how he portrays and characterizes fellow co-religionists.