An unfunny film in unfunny times.

Rating: 1/10 (26 October 2006)

An unfunny film in unfunny times.
Sasha Baron Cohen is largely a has-been in Europe where his scriptwriters put him through his first, genuinely snappy shows that brought together a lot of influences from lampooning youth culture to spoofs of veteran shows like Benny Hill.
The Borat character was initially used to mock snotty Oxbridge students, foaming-at-the-mouth foxhunting protesters, or just breaking the routines of other performative artists. The point of the skit was that people would treat Borat with respect or courtesy despite his grotesque missteps, so he could go on childish rampages like farting in a meditation group.
It was also widely regarded as the weakest part of the show, relegated to the late or ending segments. After a short but flamboyant run the initial "Da Ali G show" had lost its special touch, and US cable seems like the natural place to continue the job for a few years in these cases.
And now, there's an ethnic comedy movie where a Jew, that means from one of the traditionally most tightly sealed-off communities in history, tries to explain something about our world to Americans, one of the youngest and most self-centered nations on this planet. The method used beyond the traditional 'playing dumb and childish' routine from Cohen again seems to be gratuitous offense and over-the-top insensitivity, but somehow it isn't funny at all anymore.
There's a genuine lack of anything like wit or surprise, and he probably writes his own material without much input from a real team. Taking an act 'over the top' is a risky thing and similar results can be observed in many rushed Hong Kong comedies where the fun just doesn't happen despite or because of technically correct execution of 'funny'.
One reason may be that real comedy still comes as interaction between several level players, whereas this film presents a nearly autistic performance that leaves the viewer rooting for the genuinely clueless and debased victims. Going at it or chutzpah is a valuable thing, but if you don't know when to stop you're just a crazy horse.