Skip to content

Nights and Weekends

Reviews of movies, books, music, and board games

Primary Menu
  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Pin Posts
  • Privacy
  • Home
  • Borat

Borat

kdk November 3, 2006
0 0
Read Time:2 Minute, 49 Second

Somewhere in Central Asia, in the former Soviet nation of Kazakhstan, there are a lot of people who are seriously ticked off—all because of one irreverent comedian and his silly little movie.



The movie causing all the fuss is Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, which is based on Cohen’s character from his show, Da Ali G Show. In the movie, Borat Sagdiyev (Cohen), a Kazakh TV reporter, is sent to the U.S. and A. with a camera crew to film a documentary and learn more about the greatest country in the world. While in his hotel room in New York, he discovers Baywatch, and he falls in love with Pamela Anderson. Determined to make his beloved Pamela his wife, he packs up his camera crew and takes his documentary on the road—headed west, toward Malibu and the woman of his dreams.



Along the way—as he and his producer, Azamat Bagatov (Ken Davitian), travel across the country in an old ice cream truck—Borat takes all the time he can to interview people and attempt to learn more about what makes America great.



Though there is a bit of a plot to Borat, it’s basically an 85-minute episode of Candid Camera—with perhaps a bit of Jackass mixed in. As Borat, Cohen meets up with unsuspecting feminists and drunken frat boys and Southern socialites and politicians and proud homophobes, and he allows them to make complete and utter fools of themselves on camera. He shocks, appalls, angers, and confuses people. And he actually manages to make a friend or two, too.



Audiences of this movie will go one of two ways: you’ll either be seriously offended, or you’ll laugh so hard that your sides will ache for days. I land in the second category—but I say that with some reservation. Because I liked it—but I didn’t totally love it. Yes, Borat is hilarious. It’s been a long time since a movie made me laugh this hard. And Cohen really is a comic genius. But there were times that I really didn’t want to laugh—even though I just couldn’t help it. And there were things I saw that I definitely could have lived without ever seeing (things that will most likely pop up in a horrifying nightmare some night, years from now).



Borat definitely isn’t a general-audiences kind of movie. If you’re offended by nudity (naked man-on-fat-man wrestling, for instance) or by jokes about religion, homosexuality, politics, bodily functions, Jews, sex, or women in general, then it’s pretty much a given that you should steer clear of this one. Because Borat covers them all—and more. But if you happen to be a college student (and you happen to have just recently consumed an entire bottle of cheap whiskey), I guarantee that you’ll absolutely love it. For the rest of you, just a few words of advice: keep an open mind. And empty your bladder before the movie starts.



One last message to the Kazakh people: don’t worry. I suspect you’ll find that Borat will be a goldmine for tourism dollars. Start fermenting your finest horse urine—because I’m sure the drunken frat boys are already booking their spring break flights. High five!

Share

Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
LinkedIn

About Post Author

kdk

Kristin Dreyer Kramer has been writing in some form or another (usually when she was supposed to be doing something else) since the ripe old age of ten—when she, her cousin, and their two Cabbage Patch Dolls formed the Poo Authors’ Club. After a short career in advertising, Kristin got sick of always saying nice things about stuff that didn’t deserve it—so now she spends her days criticizing things, and she’s much happier for it. Since creating NightsAndWeekends.com in February of 2002, Kristin has spent her life surrounded by piles and piles of books and movies—so many that her office has become a kind of entertainment obstacle course. As if her writing and editing responsibilities for N&W.com weren’t enough to keep her out of trouble, Kristin also hosts a number of weekly radio shows: Reel Discovery, Shelf Discovery, and On the Marquee. She’s also a proud member of the Broadcast Film Critics Association (CriticsChoice.com), the Central Ohio Film Critics Association (COFCA.org), the Online Film Critics Society (OFCS.org), and the Women Film Critics Circle (WFCC.Wordpress.com). Kristin lives in Columbus, Ohio, with her husband, Paul, and their daughter, Anna. She welcomes questions, comments, and fan mail at kdk@nightsandweekends.com.
kdk@nightsandweekends.com
http://www.NightsAndWeekends.com
Happy
Happy
0 0 %
Sad
Sad
0 0 %
Excited
Excited
0 0 %
Sleepy
Sleepy
0 0 %
Angry
Angry
0 0 %
Surprise
Surprise
0 0 %

kdk

Kristin Dreyer Kramer has been writing in some form or another (usually when she was supposed to be doing something else) since the ripe old age of ten—when she, her cousin, and their two Cabbage Patch Dolls formed the Poo Authors’ Club. After a short career in advertising, Kristin got sick of always saying nice things about stuff that didn’t deserve it—so now she spends her days criticizing things, and she’s much happier for it.

Since creating NightsAndWeekends.com in February of 2002, Kristin has spent her life surrounded by piles and piles of books and movies—so many that her office has become a kind of entertainment obstacle course.

As if her writing and editing responsibilities for N&W.com weren’t enough to keep her out of trouble, Kristin also hosts a number of weekly radio shows: Reel Discovery, Shelf Discovery, and On the Marquee. She’s also a proud member of the Broadcast Film Critics Association (CriticsChoice.com), the Central Ohio Film Critics Association (COFCA.org), the Online Film Critics Society (OFCS.org), and the Women Film Critics Circle (WFCC.Wordpress.com).

Kristin lives in Columbus, Ohio, with her husband, Paul, and their daughter, Anna. She welcomes questions, comments, and fan mail at kdk@nightsandweekends.com.

See author's posts

Categories

Archives

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

You may have missed

Road to Perth
  • Melodrama
  • ON FILM

Road to Perth

January 7, 2022
American Siege
  • Cardiac Corner
  • Melodrama
  • ON FILM

American Siege

January 7, 2022
Good as Gold (Whatever After #14)
  • COVER TO COVER
  • Kiddie Lit
  • Listen In...

Good as Gold (Whatever After #14)

January 4, 2022
Just Haven’t Met You Yet
  • Chick Lit
  • COVER TO COVER

Just Haven’t Met You Yet

December 28, 2021

Pages

  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Pin Posts
  • Privacy
Copyright © All rights reserved. | MoreNews by AF themes.