Borat: Cultural Learnings Of America For Make Benefit Glorious Nation Of Kazakhstan

Rating: 8/10 (11 November 2006)

Borat: Cultural Learnings Of America For Make Benefit Glorious Nation Of Kazakhstan is based on the Borat character from the television series Da Ali G Show. For those of you who have never seen it, Borat is a journalist from the country of Kazakhstan, who in sketch for the show would be in America interviewing different Americans and trying to learn about their culture and what makes their country different from his. In the television show everyone Borat interviews is real and for the most part much of what Borat says is unscripted and the response from the interviewee is not scripted either. This is very funny because Borat is so ignorant of American customs and always says and does the wrong thing which in our society may be deemed unsuitable, so it is very interesting to watch the person being interviewed squirm because they are uncomfortable and just their reactions to this unknowing and anti Semitic character. This movie is a full length feature of the Borat character who travels to America to make a documentary for Kazakhstan and along the way offends and makes a lot of people uncomfortable and at the same time exposes their ignorance and bigotry. A side story to the film is that while in America, Borat watches an episode of the television series Baywatch and instantly falls in love with actress Pamela Anderson, so he plans to go to California with his producer Azamat and marry her. Some of the film is probably scripted in certain scenes, but a lot of the scenes where we see the genuine reaction of those Borat interacts with is very funny. Sacha Baron Cohen who plays Borat and co-wrote the movie does an excellent job of playing Borat and he is so good at playing this character and doing on the spot comedy. A lot of the things Borat does in this film is outrageous and in our culture just so very wrong and he has a knack of picking the best people to pull his jokes on and with their reactions and Borat's crazy behaviour they are all pulled off very well. I laughed often during this movie and the audience was laughing a lot too. I don't think I have seen a crowd laugh at a movie this much in a long time. Because of Cohen's brilliant portrayal of Borat and the way this film works so well in the laugh department whether the film is scripted or not I ended up really liking this film. I must also note that I was a fan of Da Ali G Show and of the Borat character on there as well, so when I found out about this film I was very excited. Fans of the television show and the character will definitely like this film and even if you have never seen the series you can still enjoy this movie and you don't need to have seen the film to see this movie. I would also like to add that many may find the film offensive, but I personally found the film to have a message and I think this movie is against bigotry and trying to show the ignorance of people and that it needs to stop. Cohen himself is Jewish and he is definitely trying to make a point here. For a great comedic performance and non stop laughs with a great satirical kick to them I definitely recommend Borat and I hope when the Golden Globes come along that they will nominate this film for Best Comedy/Musical and Best Actor in A Comedy/Musical. If this film were to be ignored it would be a shame. I also look forward to other projects Sacha Baron Cohen will be involved with and this film if it hasn't already will definitely make him a star and he is one comedian who really deserves that honour.