Wonderful

Rating: 7/10 (9 May 2007)

Every day in the Extra's section of the Independent newspaper they publish a quick guide to the best five movies (plus plays, exhibitions and everything else) that are playing at the moment. I'll cheat for a moment and just repeat what they have to say about "Borat".
"Better not to think too hard about how this wicked mockumentary works its tricks. Just be ready to book a seat and laugh like a hyena." Frankly, I couldn't have put it better myself.
"Borat" really is very, very funny. I thought that it was possibly the best out and out comedy of the year. There are spoilers in the next couple of bits, if you want to skip them.
"Borat" is not perfect.
Of course some of it was simply taking aim at soft targets (the feminist group, the crowd at the football match that were upset at the mangling of the national anthem, the three yahoos in the van).
Of course Pamela Anderson was obviously in on the joke at the end. (Would her bodyguards have let her run distressed around a car park? Nope. They would have gotten her straight out of there.) Of course the hero is racist, sexist, ignorant (his belief in the Kazakstahn scientist who had evidence that the female brain is smaller than that of a squirrel - I might use that some time, ha! ha!) and offensive (I particularly liked the traditional Kazakstahn celebration of the "Running Of The Jew" - open mouthed shock doesn't quite cover my reaction.) Of course some innocent and well meaning people were made to look foolish (the dinner party).
And, finally, of course the legal waters here are particularly murky. Exactly by how much were the participants misled? What did the legal releases they signed (and I'm assuming that some kind of legal release was signed) actually say? But, do you know what? Didn't matter a jot to me. I thought "Borat" was wonderful.
One question. Are all New Yorkers really as paranoid and rude as those in the film? Surely not. Or was it the best footage that the producers came up with? Very funny, though.