dispenser
Asked 6 years ago
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Discussion of Borat!: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006)
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[archived]
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Discuss Borat!: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006) here.
4 out of 5 stars
I'm always aware of how expectations can influence one's movie experience, for better or for worse, and try to always go into the movie with an open mind no matter what I've heard about it, so I was a bit surprised when I found out that "Borat" wasn't quite as funny as I thought it would be. I enjoyed it, laughing out loud maybe a dozen times, but the movie didn't "wow" me as much as I thought it would. I enjoyed other Borat clips I've seen in the past, so I came into the movie as a fan, but I felt it just didn't do enough. The main problem, as far as I can tell, is that there were too many scripted moments. The genius of Sacha Baron Cohen is his improv. But when you know a moment is scripted, it's less funny because he had all the time in the world to write it so it has to stand entirely on its own merit. Improv is funny in large part because you're amazed at what someone was able to formulate on the spot. I guess the secondary problem is that although most of the improvised scenes are funny, many are only mildly amusing, and some just fall flat. Themes, such as antisemitism and homosexuality, are just a bit too repetitive and I wish he had instead added more aspects of the Borat character to get to know.
Out of the group of four people that I saw the movie with, three gave the movie a B+ and one a B-. So a good movie, yes, maybe even the funniest of the year, but that's not saying much.
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Answers
fearlessweaver
Answered 6 years ago
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I gave Borat!: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan a 4.5 and consider it one of the best of the year, though not "one of the funniest movies ever!" as some hyperbolic reviews have claimed. I'd say the film had a nice balance of improv and scripted materials; the "scripted improv," like the climatic scene, didn't work as well as it could have, but it was still funny. Personally, I'm glad it wasn't just a series of disconnected improv moments, which might be fine for television, but does not a motion picture make. The film also has a fine (and I think remarkable) balance of slapstick / gross-out humor and sophisticated satire. Rarely can film do one of those well, and this does both. The closest cousin I can think of is South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut, and I think Parker and Stone had some involvement.
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dispenser
Answered 6 years ago
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Personally, I'm glad it wasn't just a series of disconnected improv moments, which might be fine for television, but does not a motion picture make.
I guess I was hoping for the best of both worlds: unscripted improv strung into a coherent whole. But your point is well taken. As presented, it IS a unique and interesting piece of work.
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Ryuukuro
Answered 6 years ago
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I was disappointed in this movie. Indeed, it had some really funny moments but most of it was gross out humor of the sort that has to be played just right and I didn't see that here. Really, they lost me at Borat's fight over the Baywatch magazine. I did not need to see that (and I really don't consider myself a prude either.)
But the real disappointment wasn't that it was too gross but that the political commentary that everyone keeps talking about was only patchy in this film. Only a few parts like the rodeo and the frat boy Winnie really took a stab at the bigotry and ignorance still rampant in otherwise glorious America. I would have preferred more of those scenes where people reveal themselves rather than see them get annoyed.
I only gave it a 2.5 but I would recommend it to those who really like gross out stuff and shockers.
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DanC
Answered 6 years ago
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I guess I'm just like everyone else.
But I LOVED BORAT.
Funniest movie I've seen for a long time.
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eternalclem
Answered 6 years ago
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I did not stop laughing ALL THE WAY through. It's sick and gross and miraculously hilarious. Definitely give it 4.5 out of 5 and would go back to see it in theatres just for the electric audience experience.
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Bjrn
Answered 6 years ago
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I'm with Ryuukuro on this one. There was all this talk of the political message, and I also read some interview with Baron-Cohen (as himself, not as Borat) about the political side of the movie, about apathy and so on. But then I finally got around to watching the movie, and I was just dissapointed. Really disappointed.
The grossness was a bit too much. And the mix with scripted and unscripted made me wonder how much of it actually was real, there were some very clearly scripted parts, of course, but the rest... who knows? And in the end, I found it a bit dull.
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