Fan of comedian Sacha Baron Cohen's cultural phenomenon of a character, Borat Sagdiyev? Then no matter what is said in this review, you've probably already decided you're going to see "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan" (although it doesn't hurt to know that you won't be disappointed).
However, if you can't stand him, there's nothing that will convince you to shell out 10 bucks for this film (nor should there be, because you wouldn't like it anyway).
This leaves just those who haven't seen Cohen's shtick. For a college student, this entails either having lived under a rock, in a lonely Hodgdon single or anywhere else that might prevent you from participating when everyone else in your hall congregates in one small dorm room to watch downloaded episodes of "Da Ali G Show."
If that applies to you, here's the gist of Cohen's spin-off brilliance. It all originated with his 2003-2004 HBO show, which featured three recurring characters all played by Cohen: idiotic gangsta reporter Ali G, well-meaning but politically incorrect Kazakh reporter Borat, and gay Austrian fashion expert, Bruno. All of these characters interview unaware professionals, making ridiculous statements that end up exposing the interviewee's hypocrisy and bigotry. Borat was a favorite among fans, hence a movie entirely devoted to his hilarious hijinks.
The natural question is whether or not his hilarious hijinks can sustain an entire movie - can the same joke stay fresh and consistently funny? The audience's answer would be a resounding "yes" - that is, if they could stop laughing long enough to get the word out.
Clocking in at a relatively short (these days, anyway) hour and 24 minutes, the film manages consistent entertainment and laughs. This is certainly a feat; it's so hard to find a comedy that actually always has its audience laughing nonstop. This could be because most of those types of movies have to spend at least a little time developing some semblance of a plot, whereas "Borat" does not labor under such pretensions.
This is not to say that there isn't a plot at all, because there is, albeit a loose one. The film starts off with some scripted segments acclimating audiences to Borat's hometown, introducing us to various characters such as the Town Rapist or Borat's fourth-ranking prostitute sister. Borat then accepts his mission to travel with his producer to America and report back to his mother country. After arriving in New York, it isn't long before Borat discovers "Baywatch" and is subsequently sidetracked by his quest to go to Hollywood and track down his newfound love, Pamela Anderson.
During Borat's cross-country road trip via ice cream truck, the audience gets to see the real heart of the movie: those presumably unscripted interview sessions that effectively serve as a series of vignettes about different aspects of American culture. These scenes create situations where the interviewees are undone by their eagerness to appear polite to this ignorant foreigner and - even worse - by their occasional openness to agree with his prejudiced proclamations.
The film basically works as an extended version of "Da Ali G Show," while remaining loyal to the original. Fans of the show will not be disappointed by the movie, which is remarkable for any character spin-off flick. That being said, those who can't stand Borat's character aren't going to be won over by an extended version of the gag.
As for that final group - those as of yet unexposed to Borat's charms - a great barometer is the trailer. If you like what you see there, you'll like the film. Don't worry about the trailer giving away all of the movie's jokes; in order to do that, it would have to be an hour and 20 minutes long.
Despite the fact that the great majority of the audience spent the great majority of the time laughing, this film is not for everyone. So who's going to be far from pleased with it?
For starters, it's certainly not for the easily offended, who might not be able to get past the anti-Semitic, homophobic, sexist comments to realize the masterful way the movie subverts political incorrectness by using it as a brilliant tool for exposing said bigotry in others. It probably doesn't hurt to mention that Cohen himself is Jewish, which we all know makes it "okay" for him to remark on Kazakh's traditional "Running of the Jew" or his fear of airplanes ever since "Jews caused Sept. 11." (Clearly, the film is going to cause controversy no matter what the greater purpose of its humor is.)
But if you can see past that, you'll discover a biting satire, full of enlightening expositions about American culture. Case in point: Borat's speech at a Virginian rodeo about his hope for the day when President Bush will "drink the blood of every man, woman and child in Iraq" is met with rallying cheers. Almost as much as it makes you laugh, the movie will make you think, "Are these people for real?"
Actually, some of the gags do lead to doubt over whether the footage is as improvised as the film would have you believe, but because such skepticism takes all the magic out of it in a way not dissimilar from denouncing Santa Claus, it's probably best (not to mention funnier) to take it all at face value.
In the end, though, Borat's brilliance may have caused its greatest harm. Chances are, you and the rest of the audience will be laughing so much, you won't even hear half of the movie.
