The most outrageously hilarious movie in recent years... A comic triumph!

Rating: 10/10 (27 March 2007)

Having shamelessly offended anyone he could find on his Ali G Show, it was about time British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen moved to the big screen. This proved a bit hard, though, as the Ali G movie tanked and the politically incorrect actor was forced to accept smaller roles in mainstream comedies, often turning out to be the most memorable thing in those films (case in point: his ace vocal performance as the lemur king in the otherwise hardly inspired Madagascar). In 2006, however, Baron Cohen took the world by storm with the big-screen version of Borat, another famous creation of his, and its impact on modern comedy is likely to last.
Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (while hosting an MTV program in character, the actor jokingly said "That's the abridged title!") follows the misadventures of Kazakhstan's most famous (?) reporter, Borat Sagdijev (Baron Cohen), a man who's really proud of his country, even if, according to him, every town has its own rapist, it's all right to have sex with 12-year olds and his sister is "the number four prostitute in all of Kazakhstan". All he has to say about these things is "Nice!". Soon after-wards, though, he admits not everything is fine. In his own words: "Although Kazakhstan glorious country, it have problem too: economic, social, and Jew. This is why Ministry of Information have decide to send me to US and A to learn a lessons for Kazakhstan". Accompanied by his producer Azamat Bagatov (Ken Davitian) and carrying nothing but "clothings, US dollars and a jar of Gypsy tears to protect me from AIDS", the wild journalist sets out to make a documentary about the American values his country could benefit from, only to change his mind once he sees Baywatch on TV and decides to make it his mission to "uncork" Pamela Anderson. This still won't prevent him from upsetting as many people as possible on the way...
In most comedies, the protagonist has one bad characteristic, which he will compensate in some way throughout the movie. Borat, however, is not going to compensate a thing, since he incarnates all bad sides of mankind. Racism? Check (he describes an African-American interviewee as "a real-life chocolate face. No make-up"). Anti-semitism? Check (he refuses to travel by plane "in case the Jews decide to repeat their attack of 9/11"). Misogyny? Heck, yeah (he claims women have brains the size of a squirrel's, and when he's told his wife just died, his reaction is "High Five!"). And let's not forget his problems with the English language (he mistakes "retired" for "retard") or misconceptions about etiquette ("What do I say when I need to go to the sh*t hole?"). This is a man who has plenty of (wrong) things to say and isn't afraid of saying them. And while most of his "victims" would rather lynch him, the film's funniest moments derive from the few times people actually SHARE his "beliefs". The standout? The now legendary rodeo sequence, which sees the audience (totally unaware of the fact Baron Cohen was just acting) cheer as Borat makes statements like "May George Bush drink the blood of every man, woman and child in Iraq!"
Some have found Baron Cohen's style inappropriate, since most of the people who appear in the film were made to believe Borat was an actual Kazakhstani reporter doing a documentary about the USA. That's actually the whole point: if those men and women had known the truth, their reactions wouldn't have been so real and undeniably funny, and the movie would have been much less effective. Beneath the tons of bad taste and crude humor (including a naked wrestling match in a hotel room) lies one of the sharpest satires of all time, using the defects of its "hero" to expose those of an entire nation. The truth is that, like it or not, we're all a little bit like Borat (although I doubt most car salesmen would seriously say a Corvette or a Hummer is the best vehicle to seduce "women with a shave down below").
Ultimately, despite all bad stuff he says and does, Borat is a very charismatic guy, and most certainly one of the most brilliant comedic creations in recent history. Chances are viewers might even want to join in when the (fake) Kazakhstani anthem starts playing over the end credits: "Kazakhstan greatest country in the world/ All other countries are run by little girls..."
Chenquieh!