Fake Kazakhstani journalist Borat is sent to the United States of America in order to report on some of what makes that country great. Once there though, Borat falls in love with one Pamela Anderson and decides to trek cross-country, with his sidekick producer, in the hopes of meeting the lovely actress, and marrying her.
An extremely funny yet offensive movie that will likely have certain parties up in arms, including actual Kazakhstanis (who are apparently fighting against the release of the movie), Jewish people, women and pretty much anyone else who’s offended by male nudity, inappropriate sexual insinuations and behavior, and the making fun of other cultures. Personally, I thought much of it was very humorous, including a bunch of laugh-out loud funny scenes, but at the same time, I didn’t think that it worked entirely as a “movie”. For anyone who doesn’t know the background of the lead character in this film, played by actor Sasha Baron Cohen (he’s Jewish in real-life, by the way), he’s an ongoing character on his TV show, along with his more popular alter-persona, Ali G. Part of Borat’s appeal is that he’s so ignorant of American culture, that he can say and do the most outrageous things in front of actual people (who aren’t “in on the joke”) and get away with it because most Americans are polite and try to teach him about his wrongdoings, rather than tell him off for being an asshole, idiot or racist. Well, not everyone, of course…some people do actually get upset and that’s what makes for some of the comedy in this film. The problem with this concept is that it’s very funny as a 5-minute skit on his TV show (or a series of sketches), as it doesn’t expect us to buy into his character throughout a manufactured plotline, but in this film, he’s combining a “fake story” about Borat traveling across America with actual undercover footage of him acting dumb with real people.

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