Borat reviewed?
 

Have only seen one review thus far. Will it be reviewed soon here? Any besides FilmFreakCentral?

Francis Rizzo III will be reviewing this title for DVD Talk.

"Da Ali G Show" is one of my favorite TV shows ever, and I thought "Indahouse" was hilarious. But "Borat" let me down -- most of it seemed staged (even if it wasn't entirely), and so many of the ideas were implemented far better in the Borat segments of the TV show (eg., singing a national anthem, getting etiquette lessons, hanging with frat boys.)
I swear, I laughed hardest at and that was a throwaway joke.

Anyway, I was impressed by the widescreen DVD video -- the picture's not as (intentionally) low-rent as the Borat TV segments were (with a couple exceptions.) And the warning screens before and after the movie are funny additions.

Here's my review, if you're bored....

Unfortunately, the screeners weren't supplied until very late (mine is still on the way). As soon as I get my copy, I'll get it reviewed.

Here's my review...BUY IT! It was one of the best comedies I have seen in a long time!

WARNING Not a Date Movie
 

Just a warning, be careful of who you see this movie with,
this is not a date movie!

I loved it, but made the mistake of seeing it with my girl friend.

bad idea .............................

Your GF does not have a sense of humor???

I think she thought that because I was laughing,
that maybe I had some of the same opinions as Borat !

Your girlfriend is a moron, lol.

I'm glad you said it, and not me !

Your g/f will never make #4 prostitute in her village with that attitude. -ohbfrank-

love it !

Nor #1 sex-in-mouth.

Seriously, maybe it's a good thing you saw it with her. Sounds like two very different senses of humor...

Well, his girlfriend probably couldn’t understand Borat’s complexity. We all know women have brains the size of a squirrels.

" No surprise" in the southern states, huh? IMO, the reviewer is falling into the same smugness and sense of superiority that Mr. Baron-Cohen apparently has.

Count me among the benighted fools who had mixed feelings about this movie. Parts of it were funny in a lowbrow sort of a way but the overall sense I got was one of mean-spiritedness and nastiness. The film struck me as an elitest public-school British asshole's condescending and completely misguided view of the US. The filmakers pick the softest, most stereotypical targets to denigrate (a rodeo? a pentacostal mega-church? etc). When their provocations aren't enough to get the desired effect (see the etiquette coach segment) they resort to Jackass-style fart (or bear shit) jokes. Where's the cleverness in that?

Don't get me wrong, there are definitely true bigots in this movie (e.g. the rodeo owner). But that's true of anywhere in the world. Apparently (according to his interviews), Mr. Baron-Cohen feels that the US is the true archtype for bigotry and racism. He would never make this film in the UK (where anti-semitism is much, much more common than here) or (heaven forbid) in a Muslim country. There he might actually have a point but there's less money to be made. Nope, instead he resorts to ol'timeworn Guardian-style America-bashing.

Am I the only one that noticed his little plan backfired? Most often, the film shows patient, polite people dealing with a complete idiot provoking them on camera. I fail to see the humor in that.

All of this would have been forgivable if the movie had been funny. Despite a meager running time, it lags. Many segments (the feminists, the yard sale, the ending with Pamela Anderson) fall flat. I think a lot of the appeal of the film was that the character was new to most of the audience. If, like me, you've seen (and liked) the TV show for years, there's not a lot new here. Borat's humor is funny because it's so outrageous. That sense of anarchy wears a little thin after years of the character.

Throughout this whole film, I constantly had the impression that this film was made for Chelsea millionaires who want to laugh at stupid Yanks. The fact that we lapped it up at the box office is beyond me.