Funny yet disappointing movie of hilarious TV creation

Rating: 7/10 (7 November 2006)

When Sacha Baron Cohen's original genius comic creation Ali G made it to the big screen in Ali G Indahouse, not only was the film a complete misfire, taking away the aspects that made the character so funny in the first place and dumping him into a dire low rent comedy movie plot, it was also part of a symptom that the character may be getting old and too familiar, well used and well known. Baron Cohen's solution over the following years was to add new characters and transplant his interviews that make people look ridiculous shtick to America, the home of people making themselves look ridiculous. Of those new innovations, definitely the best was the introduction of Borat, the culturally naive, racist, misogynist journalist from the major potassium exporting former Soviet republic of Kazakhstan, always dressed in the same grey suit and clipboard. In transferring his second character from TV to movies, Baron Cohen seems to have learnt some of the lessons from his first movie and kept aspects of what made the TV show great however, like his Staines based wigga predecessor, Borat does lose something in the transition, and not just the disappointing absence of the formerly ubiquitous clipboard. The film is a strange mishmash of short sketches of the style of his TV appearances designed to appear in his documentary "moviefilm" Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan and a sort of plot in which our hero travels across America in order to marry Pamela Anderson. The trouble is, only the first half of this provides the comedy gold, the other seems contrived and doesn't quite work. The reason that Borat is so funny is in the way that he relates to real people and their reactions to him, how people try and be accommodating to his strange ways until he pushes them too far or how his extremely bigoted views encourage others to open up with their own disturbingly inappropriate ideas. The film does have some very funny scenes of this variety. One particularly standout moment has Borat attending a rodeo in one of the deep south hard-line redneck states. After being told that he should shave his moustache as it makes him look too much like a Muslim by one of the rodeo organisers, Borat proceeds to tell the crowd how he supports their country's "war of terror" and has them cheering how he hopes George Bush drinks the blood of every Iraqi man, woman and child, before launching into a hilarious Kazakh national anthem to the tune of the American one. It is here that the film comes close to capturing the brilliance of TV show moments like Borat's "Throw the Jew Down the Well, Then My Country Can Be Free" song and it is all in the crowd's changing reactions from suspicion, to mindless applause to anger that much of the comedy lies. Another great moment, albeit recycled from the TV version (and already adapted from Borat's early British TV appearances to the American show) is the scene with the etiquette consultant and dining club in which Borat is unsure of how to deal with the toilet. It manages to combine social satire with fratboy style gross out humour to great effect. The end of this scene features Borat calling up a prostitute and inviting her up to the dining club which provides some great reactions from the conservative diners. However, the fact that the prostitute is obviously an actress lessens the effect and this is a problem that runs through the film. The demands of the film having a plot means that there are a number of scenes that just seem very contrived, such as when Borat hitches a lift with a camper van full of drunk American students, and therefore have none of the spontaneous real people's reactions that are truly hilarious. Having said that, some quality comedy is drawn from the bear that Borat and his producer acquire for protection such as an obviously contrived but still amusing scene where the bear scares some children after ice cream. Another problem is that the Pamela Anderson quest plot line seems a little clichéd and uninspired resulting in Borat's road trip across America not actually doing what many audience members might have hoped and truly exploring the bizarre prejudices of middle Americans. Meanwhile, the scenes of Borat's home town in Kazakhstan while having amusing moments like his triumph over his neighbour (iPod minis are for girls) remove some of the charm of his fish out of water moments in the Western world and the authenticity of the character, formerly a convincing former Soviet republic TV reporter reduced to unreal stereotyping. Of course, Baron Cohen remains a skilled comic creator and actor and his dedication to the role remains impressive as he remains in character no matter what the situation and delivers a performance of occasionally surprising nuances, while the film itself is one that will undoubtedly make you laugh hard for most of the way through but, looking back on it, most people may get a sense of missed opportunity, that there were moments when a genuine classic movie could have been about to come out. Rumours currently persist that there is a bidding war going on for a new film adaptation of Baron Cohen's third character, gay fashion journalist Bruno, a newer character and therefore one who may have more material left than Ali G or Borat. Let's hope that given the marked improvement from Ali G Indahouse to Borat, it will be third time's the charm for Baron Cohen on the big screen. ***