Wildly overpraised

Rating: 6/10 (5 November 2006)

It seems to have become somewhat of a trait for Sacha Baron Cohen's creations to fall in their quest for big screen stardom. Ali G's limp "Indahouse" followed the characters phenomenal TV success, ultimately failing as Cohen removed what is his greatest asset, the reactions of members of the public to his overblown stereotype. Having taken a bit of a lull from the limelight, Cohen returned with news of an upcoming big screen outing for his lesser known, but arguably even funnier creation "Borat" the Kazakhstani news reporter. The swarm of media attention certainly built up a huge audience for the movie (and secured it as a financial success), but ultimately only enhanced it's failings by revealing what turned out to be among the funniest sketches again, and again, and again.
Yet it all seemed so promising, far from a carbon copy of his previous venture with his other character. The trailers suggested a film crammed with hilarious candid camera gags as the hapless Kazakh fired his extreme views and racist jibes at members of the public, exposing the shocking cultural prejudice that exists in today's American society while simultaneously delivering gut crunching laughs. Finally Cohen playing to his strengths, surely the film is one big joyous extension of the razor sharp TV sketches? Unfortunately not, while efforts have been made to maintain the public reactions (which are at times as funny as ever) the attempted "plot" is still present in full force. Not only do these scripted sequences fail as a whole, they also undermine the great public sketches that form the meat of the comedy. By inserting them into the story, with Borat's overweight producer never far behind, how "real" the reactions are come into question. This is something that doesn't (and certainly shouldn't) occur to you in his TV work. Instead of monologue followed by sketch followed by monologue, we have a thoroughly unconvincing story that lessens the weight of the character.
As a larger than life stereotype in the public domain, he is ceaselessly amusing. In the film it is almost as if Cohen is trying to emulate himself sometimes, subtlety lost in favour of cheap, obvious laughs that aren't particularly clever. Plain and simple, Cohen has overdone the character, simplifying him and losing something along the way. Even in publicity interviews it seems he is trying too hard (Wow-wah-wee-wah, High Five) Our awareness of his clever "acting" is dulled, giving way to a scripted character that just isn't all that funny, at times even bordering on the offensive. Yes, most of us are aware that the comedy is without seriousness, yet you begin to wonder whether some people are laughing for all the wrong reasons. It is this that proves a little sad. Controversial as his methods are, Cohen is still trying to drive home a point about prejudice and cultural understanding. There are moments in this movie world where Cohen's signature becomes a little lost, some particularly cheap gags giving you the feeling that the racism is the joke and their necessity is called into question.
How successfully Cohen's ulterior motive translates to modern audiences is debatable. Has the success not really been built on the hilarity of "that Kazakh guy who hates Jews and women"? However it is not all bad, certain scenes showcase Cohen at his very best, with clever, biting satire, a reminder of why we really love Borat. Even some of the scripted scenes come off rather well, slapstick maybe, but successful none the less (the naked fighting scene is so wonderfully outrageous and distasteful that it forms perhaps the best scene in the entire film, the one moment where the scripted Borat meets the public reaction spectacle entirely successfully). Cohen is a talented comic, though it is clear that his true domain is in television. An improvement on "Indahouse" most certainly, but in the end here lies a merely average comedy film in the place of a potentially outstanding one.