Film Review
‘Borat’ is Very Nice… We Like

By K-K Bracken and Alex Prewitt (November 10, 2006)

Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit the Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan is offensive to the following people (in order:) Jews, Women, Kazakhs, Rednecks, and gypsies. Also Fundamentalist Christians and frat boys. Oh, and Pamela Anderson.

Basically, what might just be the funniest movie ever made can also be considered the most brutally distasteful 84 minutes you might ever experience in a movie theater. 

The movie is a mockumentary. It follows Kazakh journalist Borat Sagdiyev (Sacha Baron Cohen), chosen by his country to learn from the culture of “U S and A, greatest country in a world!” While in New York, he catches an episode of Baywatch and vows to traverse the nation in search of the beautiful Pamela Anderson.

Those familiar with Cohen’s humor from episodes of Da Ali G Show know that the film is not for those who can’t take a joke, a.k.a. women, whose brains are much smaller than men’s, according to the premier surgeon of Kazakhstan.

See, if you didn’t find that funny, don’t go see this movie. Cohen, raised by Hasidic parents and a devout practitioner of Judaism himself, manages to exploit stereotypes of nearly every group of people in America. The ones that he makes the biggest fools out of are the racists and bigots of the United States. By using slapstick and bathroom humor, often considered the lowest forms of comedy, Cohen (with help from director Larry Charles) manages to make a smart film with an actual point… and gratuitous male nudity.

Definitely expect mixed reactions. For example, when forced to stay the night at a bed and breakfast, Borat finds out it is owned by a Jewish couple and refuses to eat their food for fear of poison. Seeing a Richmond local sponsoring a yard sale, he says “Gipsy! Give me your tears! If you will not give them to me, I will take them from you!”

Borat marks the biggest success of a film opening in less than 1000 theaters, topping Santa Claus 3, which opened in over 3000 theaters, by six million dollars in the opening weekend.

The best advice we can give you is to avert your eyes when Borat gets to Dallas, Texas. Seriously, you’ll thank us.