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

Rated: R
Runtime: 1 hour, 22 minutes
Directed by: Larry Charles

Starring:
Sacha Baron Cohen - Borat Sagdiyev
Ken Davitian - Azamat Bagatov

Talladeaga Nights was not the funniest film of the year. It was a funny film, but the showing I attended had the misfortune of being preceeded by the trailer for Borat. When I went to see Beerfest, I knew it was funnier than Talladega and while I awarded it the status of Funniest Film of 2006 (So Far), the crazy reporter from Kazakhstan lingered in the back of my mind. That was the comedy I was waiting to see.

I got to see the film over a month in advance through a special MySpace screening. I wasn’t able to get any friends to come with me, my Nintendo DS died while I was in line, I had to be in line with hundreds of people from the MySpace crowd (not necessarily bad people but not necessarily interesting chaps either), and I waited in line for two hours (half of the theatre’s capacity were already in line) and then waited another hour inside the theatre.

It was all worth it.

When I say a film is the Funniest Film of the Year and don’t add the (So Far), it’s with the knowledge that looking at the rest of the year’s slate and how much laughter the body can handle without dying. Last year I gave it to The 40-Year-Old Virgin and this year it’s Borat. Borat may not be as good as Virgin overall but it certainly has laughs that are as big and as life-threatening as Virgin.

For those of you unfamiliar with the character of Borat, he isn’t real. He’s a creation of actor Sacha Baron Cohen from Cohen’s hit television show, Ali G. Borat’s comedy comes from his super-stereotype of a third-world guy whose customs and behaviors tend to run counter to a civilized society. The humor comes when the gulf is so wide that it swallows everything except terrible awkwardness for the subject or when Borat and his subject tend to share the same backwards beliefs and the awkwardness comes from a disbelieving audience that’s shocked at a group of bar patrons who would sing along to a tune called “Throw The Jew Down the Well”. But as Borat demonstrates, bigotry tends to spring forth from ignorance and making people look stupid is a grand tradition in any country.

By now you’ve probably noticed that I haven’t said a word about the plot, supporting characters, or anything else that would indicate that I’ve truly seen the film (as of this writing, I’ve actually seen it twice). But like most comedy, most of the humor comes from not knowing the punchline. The punchlines in Borat will uppercut even the most jaded of cynics. If you think there’s nothing in this world that can offend you, Borat is your challenge. I’m not going to soften the blow by giving you a heads up. And if you’re easily offended, don’t throw away your money. You’ll be walking out within the first thirty minutes.

Right now, Borat is not tracking well so Fox reduced its numbers and instead will try to see if it will build by word of mouth. It’s not a bad strategy, but will Fox really look at the per-theatre average or just see that it didn’t rank high in the top 10. Furthermore, Fox is making it so that Borat will have to compete with bigger films as it’s trying to expand its audience. It may succeed against Stranger Than Fiction in its second weekend, but Tenacious D in its third? James Bond in its fourth?

I usually don’t give a shit about box office. I understand its importance but it’s a game for the accountants and Monday morning quarterbacks. I just want Borat to get the audience it deserves. Hard-R comedies can succeed and Borat delivers the laughs. If you don’t believe me, I’ve had two full theatres that clearly felt the same way. While two screenings isn’t indicative of the population as a whole, I know I’m not alone in thinking this film is comic gold and deserves to make some serious bank so that studios won’t be afraid to make abrasive films like this in the future.

Borat is a film that will leave you talking with your friends about what was the funniest part and everyone will have a different answer. Hopefully Fox hasn’t botched this release where you and your friends won’t even have the chance to see it until it winds up on DVD.

Words by
Matt Goldberg
10.28.06

Rating: 9.6 out of 10