What can one meaningfully say....?

Rating: Null/10 (25 November 2006)

...Nothing much, so I'm just going to take it at face value. If you are one of the six people in the Western world who haven't yet seen this movie, I recommend a trip to the pub first. And probably afterwards as well. There is absolutely no point in trying to over-intellectualize here. I'm certain Cohen - the guy behind Borat - has been through the full intellectual process and come out the other end. Yes it's boorish and sophomoric - that's the point. It's also extremely funny, especially in the first half, and occasionally rather frightening, but the joke is pretty thin and, I'm afraid, wearing out towards the end. Still..... I was creased up with laughter at the scenes in New York and at the sight of Borat chasing New Yorkers around a subway train, trying to kiss them. Then the chicken got loose.......wonderful!
I loved the rodeo, and that homophobic, racist guy shooting himself so utterly and completely in the foot on film for the whole world to see, but the funniest part wasn't that or even Borat's rendering - or strangling - of the Star Spangled Banner. It was the horse falling over in the background. You can't script that kind of stuff.
One of my favorite scenes was at the TV station, where the interviewer was trying so sweetly and patiently to get Borat to sit down and stay in camera range, and the weatherman just lost it completely and dissolved into giggles. Those guys need promoting! But the bear joke wore thin very quickly, the frat boys deserved everything they got, the driving instructor was bordering on heroic, and the revivalist meeting terrified the hell out of me. That's one of the more frightening things I've seen on screen this year. I felt sorry for the lovely couple in their Bed and Breakfast house and hope - assume - they got very well paid. The Baywatch / Pamela Anderson thread was a bit tedious by the end, and the naked wrestling was funny for a while but went on way too long.
Some sharper editing would have helped. I was very impressed by the size of the "black boxes" which were apparently necessary to cover up Borat's wedding tackle during the wrestling, (is that how the rest of the world saw Borat or is it just the USA which is so terrified of nudity?) but I'm seriously concerned about the fate of the chicken. Please someone. Tell me what happened to the chicken!