Guy in suit + funny accent = hilarity (right?)

Rating: 3/10 (6 July 2007)

It was refreshing to scroll down and see a non-rave spotlight review of "Borat," one of the most inexplicable comedies to come along in quite some time (well, it equals this summer's "Knocked Up"). Like Judd Apatow's latest, I spent most of "Borat" staring on, sporadically laughing (there are maybe 3 good 'lawls' here), but mostly wondering what the hell critics and viewers alike were (and still are) thinking. I believe all my laughter (if not all, then 90%) came during the mock-dinner etiquette sequence, which has some low yet effective humor. But therein lies the problem with a film that many have mistaken for 'comic genius': as Borat (Sacha Baron Cohen), from Kazakhstan, is a 'bumpkin' touring the United States, it gives his naive reactions to things free reign to pull in the low-brow humor, while sending off the 'clever' allusion that its lowbrow execution is mired in intellectual 'intent.' Sure. And seeing as how Borat's naive reactions are, indeed, intended as punchlines unto themselves, I wound up hating this one-note joke of a film.