On the Big Board |
| Position |
Staff |
In Brief |
| 2/52 |
Les Winan |
Fearless, revelatory comedy. Explosively funny. Let's just hope people get the joke. |
| 13/200 |
Max Braden |
At times the funniest movie of the year, Cohen's idea is brilliant but the execution suffers from the Pamela storyline. |
| 16/68 |
Michael Bentley |
The inventive project is hysterically funny at times, but has its misses and you wonder whether a couple scenes were staged. |
| 33/65 |
Kim Hollis |
I was disappointed in the film, but it was still hilarious at points. |
| 72/159 |
David Mumpower |
While Borat is less satisfying than the lavish critical praise would indicate, it's unquestionably a very funny albeit erratic movie. |
A gangly Jewish comedian named Sacha Baron Cohen has little business espousing outlandish, oftentimes anti-semitic comments. On the other hand, a gangly Jewish comedian in disguise as the least informed Kazakhstani resident the country has ever seen may (relatively) safely say whatever he wants. Such was the genius of Cohen's alter-ego, Borat, on Da Ali G Show, an English import that discovered tremendous popularity in the United States.
Da Ali G Show originally aired on England's Channel 4, growing into a grass roots hit on that side of the Atlantic. Seeking new comedy fare, HBO ordered a season for United States audiences, and the result was a trio of flamboyant characters who quickly became pop culture icons.
There is the titular Ali G, a gay Austrian fashion design presenter named Bruno, and Borat. The latter character is a misogynistic, bigoted Eastern European with an impeccable ability to say the least politically correct comments possible at any given moment. Like Ali G before him, the Borat character is now being spun off into a movie. The difference is that Borat will receive a North American release.
The movie will follow hapless reporter Borat in his assignment doing an expose on the "greatest country in the world", the United States. Armed with a camera, a microphone and a never-ending supply of ignorant, prejudicial comments, Borat will attempt to learn about the western hemisphere. The movie is performed as a mockumentary, all but assuring two things. The first is that it won't make much money and the second is that a diehard segment of fans will make Borat a cult classic if it is any good whatsoever.
Cohen's girlfriend, Isla Fisher, was the overnight sensation of summer 2005 due to her work in Wedding Crashers. Cohen himself attained anonymous success as the voice of King Julien in 2005's Madagascar as well as the scheduled 2008 sequel, Madagascar 2.
Borat will be his second theatrical attempt to give North American audiences a face to go along with the previously established voice. The first attempt is in the July 2006 Will Ferrell release, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. Cohen is the faux-French foil (try saying that fast three times) to Ferrell's white trash icon. (David Mumpower/BOP)
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