Borat --- Destined to have a short shelf life

Rating: 6/10 (14 November 2006)

Look --I like to Christian bash just as much as the next fellow. And as far as mocking pretentious southern Republicans -- the kind who inhabit Seccession Drive in the movie .....well I am usually as game as I can be. Same goes with showing up drunken frat boys. I have built up a great deal of eager animosity against all of these groups. But watching Borat skewer these same people somehow caused me a bit of discomfort. Sure, it was an uneasiness punctuated by laughter --- but still the whole process left me a little queasy.
It has been said that this movie is holding a mirror up to America --but I think that the makers of the movie (Cohen, Charles et al) really say a lot more about themselves than about the U.S. ---- The same goes for those who have posted review after review on IMDb (and other places) that herald this as as the "funniest movie ever made." There are a lot of laughs to be found here --- but they are easy laughs - the moral equivalent of shooting fish in a barrel. Where does the comedy stop and the ugliness begin?
The inspired comedic moments in this film are there but they are few and far between. Borat addressing the crowd before the Rodeo and then mangling the National Anthem. The highlight of this sequence is a cowgirl bearing the stars and stripes taking a tumble - a fortuitous accident that greatly benefited the filmmakers. Then we have the infamous nude wrestling sequence involving Borat and his morbidly obese producer (Azamat). It's funny the first time you see it--but I would bet heavy money that subsequent viewings are rather less hilarious.
The upshot of all of this is that the stars danced just right in the sky for Borat to be the huge success that it has been -- but don't tell me that there is anything truly groundbreaking here -- and certainly not anything socially relevant. Borat is just not in that class. And the mass of humanoids will probably figure that out sooner rather than later. I have to believe that the number of people who buy the DVD for Borat and whip it out once a year (like I do with Dr. Strangelove) to get a few laughs -will, in the end be, quite disappointed. It's going be like eating a stale sandwich. In that respect, Borat is easily the "Titanic" of the comedy genre.