Entertainment HomeDVD review : Borat.
by: Anthony Chatfield
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When Sacha Baron Cohen first steps on screen in what is supposed to be a tiny Kazakhstani village and welcomes you to his film, you might be a bit apprehensive. Everyone’s raved about how incredibly funny Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan is, how it’s one of the funniest films of the decade. But, you’ve also heard about how politically incorrect it might be, and don’t want to be seen laughing at that misogynist joke.
By the 10 minute mark, you probably don’t care anymore. Everyone watching with you will be laughing too hard to realize you’re laughing with them. It’s that funny of a film. When Cohen first introduced us to Borat in his Ali G show on HBO, the results were mixed. It was a funny character, with a ridiculously hard to watch shtick but the jokes were usually one liners and didn’t offer much more than single viewing laughs.
When given the green light for a feature film though, Cohen and friends picked up the slack and slapped together one of the funniest films ever made. It’s a simple concept. Borat is a reporter for his home of Kazakhstan. The country decides to send him to America to learn more about American culture, taking a film crew along with him. In the process, he more or less insults every woman he meets, every race other than his own, and every poor soul he manages to convince to sit down for an interview with.
Reviewing this film is something of a conundrum, because unveiling any of the jokes more than the countless trailers have already done would only cheapen their effectiveness. You can’t know the punchline is coming the first time you see, mainly because the punchline is the entire film. Borat’s journey, one of discovery and self-discovery (if you were willing to go that far with it) is packed to the brim with American stereotypes and man whose views are so backwards that Americans have no idea how to respond. Fortunately for us, many of them just act themselves, which in some cases is horrible.
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The responses Borat can illicit from his “interviewees” is amazing. The question of whether or not these are even real, or staged arose mainly because of how incredible the results are. Slick political messages, roundabout unveiling of tired stereotypes and ridiculous, over-the-top bouts of racism are so well done that they actually manage to have an impact and present a message about the state of things.
There’s a reason Borat spends so much of the film in the American south. It’s the ripest for satirizing and he does it better than anyone has in a long time.
Simply put, Borat is a must see film. And likely, you’ll need to see it twice, which makes the DVD just released a great buy or rent. You’ll laugh too hard at times, missing jokes along the way. It truly takes a Golden Globe winning performance to make a film that’s, on paper, so embarrassing to watch that isn’t actually embarrassing at all to watch, only hilarious.
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About The Author
I'm a self avowed unemployed writer, working on semi-constant basis to try and overcome the need to go and work a real job. I've written more than 200 articles and reviews and am constantly scouring the internet for any and all excuses and methods to make myself less dependent on corporate pay days. Visit my website at TheChatfield.com
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