Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan

When Kazakhstan's most famous TV journalist comes to America, he carries with him a jar of Gypsy tears to ward off AIDS. This is Borat Sagdiyev, the ignorant, terribly racist, and so-lovable character embodied by British avant comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, said Mick LaSalle in the San Francisco Chronicle. Baron Cohen's satire does have a serious side, but 'œthe first thing that must be said about Borat is that it's screamingly, hysterically, laugh-through-the-next-joke, laugh-for-the-next-week funny.'

With Borat's Stalinesque moustache and unfamiliarity with indoor plumbing, it looks as if Baron Cohen is mocking Third World backwardness, said Joel Stein in Time. 'œHe is not. He's mocking you.' When Borat reveals his shockingly anti-Semitic, misogynist, and homophobic opinions, some people react in horror, some with winking agreement. In encouraging them to respond to Borat, 'œBaron Cohen is able to get his interviewees to show their inner selves, and it often isn't pretty.' In a gun shop, for example, Borat asks which would be the best weapon for killing a Jew. Without missing a beat, the clerk recommends a 9mm.

Guerrilla comedy like Baron Cohen's is an especially sharp tool with which to show America its ugly insides, said Jim Emerson in the Chicago Sun-Times. This movie is going to make comedy history, 'œand not because it is dumb (although it is very dumb), but because it is smart (and it is very smart).' Last year's overrated Oscar winner Crash attempted to dissect these very issues of latent racism and ignorance. But it was so high-minded that it blocked its own agenda. Few would call Borat high-minded. Baron Cohen's misguided Kazakh is neither malicious nor pretentious, so he can take 'œthe ridiculous stereotypes of Crash to even more hilarious extremes.'

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As a fan of Cohen's work, count me as disappointed, said Ron Rosenbaum in Slate.com. 'œSomething has been lost' in Borat's transition from HBO's Da Ali G Show to the big screen. Take, for example, the scene featuring Borat and his producer wrestling in the nude. It will have you choking on your popcorn. But naked wrestling is mindless, frat-boy humor which belongs in Jackass movies. It doesn't measure up to the subtle, cutting, thought-provoking Borat of his famous 'œThrow the Jew Down the Well' segment from the HBO show.

The New Yorker

The Santa Clause 3

Rating: R