Crazy, courageous, sad, hilarious, wonderfully un-PC

Rating: 9/10 (28 December 2006)

I've never had a movie experience quite like the one I had with "Borat." It may not be as hysterically funny as billed, although it is at times screamingly hilarious, but to me "Borat" is more disquieting social commentary than straight-out comedy. What a strange, eye-opening film this is. Just go into it with an open mind: As a Jew, it was very weird to hear a theater full of people (and me along with em) laugh at Borat's superstitious dislike of my people. However, it was also strangely liberating to hear Cohen's buffoonish Kazhaki TV reporter's matter-of-fact utterances of nasty Jewish stereotypes that go back centuries. And guess who Borat blames for 9/11? I say "liberating" b/c people in real life truly believe the Jews are money hungry, have big noses, and we're responsible for the 9/11 terror attacks. What cracked me up (and shocked me a little) about "Borat" were not the statements themselves as much as a fellow Jew having the stones to say them for the purposes of mainstream cinema. Cynical, smart and unapolgetically offensive, the whole movie is a gut punch, and while plenty of minorities get jabbed in the process, nobody gets a worse beating than the good ole US of A. "Borat"is an American roadtrip showcasing our casual prejudices.