I bought this film after it seemed that everyone except me had seen it at the cinema, and every review was fantastic. The story follows Borat Sagdiyev, Sacha Baron Cohen's most recent creation, from his own country of Kazakhstan on his journey to America.
The basic storyline is that Borat has been sent with his producer to make a documentary on America. While there he discovers Pamela Anderson on TV and travels across the country to California so he can find her. To be honest this isn't just the basic storyline, it's about as complex as it gets. The journey is really just an excuse for Borat to go through Deep South, where Cohen's humour is the most effective. The funniest parts are the unscripted encounters with unexpected people who have some sort of bigotry that can be played to. Because Borat is such a seemingly stupid person, they don't hold back when speaking to him. The problem with this is it has already been done with the Borat TV show, and the comedy in the film does not differ in any way to what can be found in the 20 minute programs. Maybe this is why the film is only 80 minutes long, one of the shortest I've ever seen and it's certainly too short for a feature film in my opinion.
All in all, there are some really good parts here as Cohen probes at the racist and narrow-minded nature of some unknowing people. However, you have to sift through a lot of crude humour to get there. Certainly not one to watch with your grandma!
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Re-rated based on Ciao's insistence that such reviews are no longer considered "Off Topic"
Soho_Black 12.04.2007 09:26
I see you've posted this as a DVD review, but you've not mentioned the DVD. Are there any extras? If so, what are they and are they any good? If you add to this, or if you change it to be posted as a "Film Only" review, which can be done by accessing "edit review" above the review and changing the drop down menu under the "Which format are you reviewing?" question at the bottom, please let me know and I'll re-rate.
Sacha Baron Cohen, the star and creator of Channel 4's wildly popular Da Ali G Show, ... more
brings his truly original Kazakh character Borat Sagdiyev to the big screen for the first time. With a camera crew in tow and armed with a jar of gypsy tears for prote...
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America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. It very nice. I like! The movie film is a government assigned project to broaden and enlight people and glory o...
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Advantages: Quite amusing in parts, an interesting concept, a short and somewhat snappy movie Disadvantages: Will offend some, a bit too over the top & can make for uncomfortable viewing in parts