ShareThisBy BETSY PICKLE
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
It's not clear who will benefit from the "cultural learnings" of "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan."
The real nation of Kazakhstan has panicked over the backward image of the country in British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen's mockumentary. As for the fictitious version of the Central Asian country, well, it's just hard to imagine that enlightened paradise needing any improvements.
Borat Sagdiyev is one of the characters Baron Cohen created for "Da Ali G Show." A gangly Kazakh television journalist with a large mustache, Borat speaks fractured English and frequently utters politically incorrect or otherwise inappropriate language, usually about Jews or sex.
He's a Kazakh equivalent of the ugly American, except that in "Borat" he seems to be on a mission to expose the ugly American in its natural habitat.
Borat, whose hobbies include ping-pong, sunbathing, disco dancing and watching women use the toilet, is sent by the Ministry of Information to the United States. There he is to interview Americans about their impressions of Kazakhstan and help them learn more about the nation.
Accompanying Borat is his obese, inept producer, Azamat Bagatov (Ken Davitian). They start in New York, where Borat invades the personal space of subway riders, defecates in public and offends a group of feminists. A combination of TV viewing and news from home prompts Borat to convince Azamat that they need to take a road trip to California so they can see the real America.
After a few driving lessons, Borat and Azamat set off in an old ice-cream van, taking a generally southerly route. Along the way, Borat meets a number of people and tries to use his own outrageous statements and behavior to get them to reveal their own bigotry.
"Borat" is very funny at times, but even coming in at less than 90 minutes it drags. The funniest sequence _ a naked knockdown, drag-out between the two men _ goes on far too long. While the press notes claim that Baron Cohen is interacting with real folks who aren't in on the joke, that's impossible to believe at times.
"Borat" isn't a film for those who insist on logic. Borat enjoys watching women "make toilet," but on two occasions he pretends not to know what a toilet is. He and Azamat appear to double back on their route, suggesting that some of their attempts to inflame strangers didn't work and director Larry Charles had to cobble together footage to flesh out the trip.
The most irksome aspect of the film is the cheap shots it takes at the South, which is where most of the road trip is set. All the whites Borat encounters are not very deeply closeted bigots. Meanwhile, the blacks are dodgy but friendly sorts.
That's more entertaining than the truth, and that's all Baron Cohen cares about. "Borat" is more mindless than the culture at which he's poking fun, and it's far more disposable.
Rated R for pervasive strong crude and sexual content including graphic nudity, and language.
Three stars (out of five).
