Borat: Cultural Learnings of America to Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
Screenplay by Sacha Baron Cohen & Anthony Hines & Peter Baynham & Dan Mazer; story by Sacha Baron Cohen & Peter Baynham & Anthony Hines & Todd Phillips
Directed by Larry Charles
20th Century Fox
2006
Rating:


Sacha Baron Cohen may very well be the next Andy Kaufman or Peter Sellers. His devotion to comedic character is sublime and deadpan, his humor practically dada-absurdist.

In the marvelously named "Borat: Learnings of America to Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan," Cohen takes his "Da Ali G Show" character Borat to the big-screen for squirm-inducing humor at the expense of hapless Americans. Cohen poses as Borat, an anti-Semitic and misogynistic Kazakhstan reporter, to see just how accepting Americans are of his bigoted views: he asks a gun shop owner what the weapon of choice is for killing a Jew and asks a feminist why women should have equal rights as men if they only have half a brain.

"Borat" has been hailed for its social analysis of American intolerance, and it's true some of the people Borat meets hang themselves with the rope given to them. At a rodeo where Borat hails President George W. Bush's "war on terror," an aging cowboy advocates capital punishment for homosexuality; later, frat boys (two of whom tried to sue the filmmakers) voluntarily admit they long for the reinstatement of slavery.

More often than not "Borat" surprisingly shows the tolerance of Americans, or at least the breaking point of their forbearance. Traveling across the country (mainly in easy-target-rich Middle America) wearing an unwashed suit and driving an ice cream truck, it's amazing anyone is willing to sit down for an interview with Borat, and more often than not supposed proof of American prejudice is actually polite acceptance of another culture. It may be a damnable offense to allow a man to spout such views unchecked, but it's not quite the same as sharing them. A Southern dining club is even willing to put up with Borat calling one man retarded, deeming a minister's wife to be unattractive and presenting his own feces at the dinner table. A black, overweight prostitute is apparently crossing the line for the club, but whether or not that's racism (they have, after all, invited a man they believe to be Arab to dinner) is up for debate.

What's inarguable is Cohen's tour de force of acting and his manic comedy. Borat's epic, naked wrestling match with his producer Azamat (Ken Davitian) is a masterpiece all on its own. "Borat" itself may very well grow to be regarded in the same esteem as the mockumentaries of Christopher Guest or Kaufman's straight-faced performance pieces; its claims to being a political exposé, however, remain in doubt.

Posted Saturday, January 20, 2007

Link to this review:
http://filmzeus.pressbin.com/film/borat