Anarchic and delightfully offensive

Rating: 8/10 (21 October 2006)

Larry Charles, who has directed many episodes of the brilliant "Curb Your Enthusiasm", was an ideal choice to direct this anarchic, delightfully offensive masterpiece; its simple premise permits the skewering of every holy cow you can shake a cattle prod at. Sacha Baron Cohen is hilarious as Borat, a "journalist" from Khazakhstan, who travels to America with his obese uncle (Ken Davatian) to spread his country's goodwill and soak up the "best" America has to offer. Many will be offended by Cohen's adventures, but so what? The best comedy needs to offend; that's why we laugh. This is not some angry, mean-spirited, depressing testament to the failures of the human race. On the contrary, it is an uplifting, raw, terribly funny celebration of how humor crosses all boundaries. To give you an idea of the film's tone, let me describe one conversation: When Borat makes it clear that he intends to have any woman he wants in America, his host explains that, in America, women "choose" whom they have sex with. Borat reacts with a shocked: "WHAT???" Quite similar in style to "Curb Your Enthusiasm", each scene has a looseness to it that allows the humor to germinate. Director Charles also knows when a joke's done and quickly moves on to the next one. The film never outstays its welcome and engages totally with its audience. I predict wide success for this movie.