So funny it made my head hurt.

Rating: 10/10 (17 December 2006)

I know a comedy's working if I can't bear to laugh anymore because of the pain. Borat is the only movie this year that's had that effect on me, and it's not because I have a particularly puerile sense of humour, or enjoy watching fat, hairy, naked men wrestling. One thing I do like is to see pretentious people have their pretensions tested in the face of such a formidable adversary as Borat, who will push their airs and PC-pretences to the limits of endurance. The etiquette coach, the society diners, the humour coach (honestly! The very IDEA of a guy getting PAID to explain the subtle nuances of the 'not' joke offends ME!) are all exposed for the highfalutin buffoons they are.
Along the way, we also get some painfully honest opinions from ordinary Americans (the rodeo organiser - the only true racist in the movie - and the misogynist frat boys come immediately to mind), which were the only bits I found really offensive, because they were obviously true. Rather than suing the producers, perhaps these people should treat the experience as a lesson: If you don't want people to know you're an a-hole, don't behave like one in the presence of a movie crew.
As for Borat's antisemitism, sexism and other offensive personality traits, they are aspects of a CHARACTER. Borat is not a real person. The things he says are simply designed by SBC to elicit responses from those he encounters. If anyone should be offended by this film, it is the population of Kazakhstan, who are made to look like superstitious, incestuous bumpkins. Perhaps Sacha could have INVENTED an '-istan' (a la Austin Powers' Creplakistan) as a point of origin for his character, meaning he could have done all this without offending ANYONE (at least anyone with intelligence enough to see what is really going on in this film) Of course, by 'offending', I mean offending them personally. Anyone who gets squeamish easily or doesn't like seeing people in embarrassing situations might justifiably run screaming for the hills after watching a few minutes of this movie.
As for me, there were a few moments when I was thinking 'that is SO wrong' - but I was laughing too hard at the time to really care.
The humour in the movie is not for everyone. As (I'm sure) the humour coach would tell you, everyone's sense of humour is different. But most of the stuff people seem to find offensive about this movie is stuff they really shouldn't, because it is the opinion of a man who does not exist, who comes from a culture that probably does not exist (despite his claiming to come from a real place). He is there as a device to upset the sensibilities of some, and to bring out the bigotries of others - to cut through the crap and show people as they are.
Naked. Hairy. Ugly.
Eugh.
Borat Rocks.