Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan

Larry Charles / Sacha Baron Cohen
2006

The high-buzz big-screen translation of Sacha Cohen's most popular character comes off a bit too hokey, and much less effectively than its boob-tube beginnings. Here, the ersatz Kazakh may be reaching a wider audience (emphasis on the "may"), but in return Cohen gives up a good cut of laughs in exchange for a fluffy road story with a lot of superfluous filler. Essentially the film boils down to a season of "Da Ali G Show's" Borat segments padded with a hasty, insincere, rigidly-structured plotting. Through it all the Borat character is played true to form, and there's plenty of good, familiar laughs here, but the forced nature of the writing and direction disappoint when compared to the nimble and concise television version.

The filmmakers opt for a more digestible mockumentary style that broadly personalizes Borat, giving him accessible emotions, and an absurdly specific quest: to track down and marry Pamela (Pam-ay-la) Anderson, by force if necessary. The picture would greatly benefit by taking the form it claims to - an informational documentary about American culture for Kazakh viewers. Cohen is brilliant at victimizing his unwitting subjects through improvisation, but unfortunately meticulous scripting robs the film of much of its wit. Its a shame that Cohen is willing to take the piss out of some of his own jokes. Showing his Kazakh town (a weak visual portrayal at best) ruins all the dead-wife and prostitute-sister jokes that are staples of the act. Also, the use of a hired actress for Borat's working-girl love interest, and Pamela Anderson's complicity in the wedding sack gag is contrary to the core of Sacha Cohen's comedy. Borat's usually hilarious interviews are clipped and shortened, rarely giving time for the brutally uncomfortable faux pas to set in.

The only advantage the film has over the show is the inclusion of Borat's "producer" Azamat, a perfectly cast and costumed squat penguin man who manages to rub his naked hairy ass and scrotum on Borat's face (Kazakh wrestling!) before the film's end. Also, the scene where a hitchhiking Borat is picked up by drunk, racist, chauvinist, frat boys in a too-cramped RV is as good and as classic as anything from the TV series.

I've always been under the impression that a motion picture version of a successful comedy show should pull at least one gargantuan stunt to get butts in seats and sell tickets. There's no such moment here, and Borat's laughing all the way to the bank with the box office returns. I'm curious to see how Cohen's next movie (mit Bruno!) works out, but if this is any indication I'll stick to reruns on HBO.

Review by Brett A. Scieszka