hohoho...

Rating: 2/10 (4 November 2006)

In 1999-2000 Ali G was the funniest thing on UK TV (late night Channel 4 - remember?), with Baron Cohen brilliantly dissecting the thorny issue of race whilst being hilarious to boot. This didn't last, however, as on his own stand-alone show (and film) the Ali G character quickly becoming a tired cliché.
Then came Borat - funny, original, sharp ... alas, he's gone the same way. Let's get it straight - this film is bad, really bad. At times it looks as if the film will use Borat to expose the hidden underbelly of American life, to our amusement. Instead, Cohen opts for the easy option - sex gags (every 5 mins), gay gags, women gags, disabled gags, 'funny foreigner' gags - that's reeeeeeeeaaaaaaal original Sacha. This laziness extends to the material itself - half the scenes here have already been shown in pared-down form on the UK TV show (the dinner, the rodeo etc.).
That said, I give the film a '2' as there are some interesting things here - the horribly obnoxious New Yorkers for instance, or the insight we get into the right-wing fundamentalist types. But these are few and far between - both the above mentined scenes end with an oh-so hilarious piece of slapstick/physical comedy.
In short, if jokes about faeces, penises, vaginas, 'retards', prostitutes and masturbation are your thing then go see this film. The audience of juvenile males with whom I saw this cinematic abortion loved it.