don't believe the hype

Rating: 1/10 (6 November 2006)

i decided to go to this movie with a few friends, i had not seen the character of Borat before but since he is a "popular" television character i thought what the hey and merrily paid my £5 to sit in the theatre. the credits started to roll and from there on in i was subjected to the most puerile base humour, well humour actually implies that it is a funny film, it is not. i am a pretty open minded person as my friends can testify but i just did not get the comedy with this film. one joke stretched painfully beyond breaking point, lots of obviously staged meetings with American people where, as the socially inept Borat, Cohen, acts stupid, behaves stupid and fundamentally is not funny. i must admit that the idea behind the film is very good, but why does it need to be told in the form of a road trip movie with all the clichés that genre affords. from the opening few minutes where we meet Borat's home village and such luminaries as the town rapist it feels like Cohen might as well just hit you with a 2x4 forced comedy stick. and as anyone who has actually been hit with a stick can confirm, it is no laughing matter. but on the flip side my friends found this film to be funny i could hear the occasional titter of embarrassment from their general direction. but if the plan is made clear to shock then the last thing that can be done is get me shocked... a bit more subtlety near the beginning and this film could have been salvaged.