Much Ado ...

Rating: 4/10 (17 December 2006)

Spurred by the outcry of outrage and controversy, I walked into the theater with high expectations. Laughter overcame me in several hilarious moments, especially with a joke involving a cheese ritual (can't spoil it, sorry). Overall, I was underwhelmed. Had the theater been more crowded I might perhaps have laughed more by going with the flow, but I confess I was a bit bored. The controversy grew old very quickly, as did the ethnic/religious jokes. Born and raised in Europe, I find many US-based stereotypes about non-Western cultures tragically un-funny, therefore US born and raised viewers should not trust my impressions. Most of my US friends (prevalently white Caucasians) laughed a lot. Most of my non-US friends left the theater wondering what was there to laugh so hard about. I laughed much harder for Young Frankenstein. My vote of 4/10 is generous and takes into account my admiration for the courageous enterprise. Had I seen a shorter feature of Borat on TV, I would have enjoyed it more.