Like great theatre, Borat holds up a mirror to its obliviously intolerant audience ... that serves as a shocking, but entertaining wake-up call.
Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:204
Fresh:186
Rotten:18
Average Rating:8/10
Consensus: Jagshemash! Borat gets high-fives almost all-around for being offensive in the funniest possible way. Part satire, part shockumentary, Borat stars Sacha Baron Cohen as the gleefully sexist, homophobic, and anti-Semitic title character on a cross-country trek to learn more about our strange nation; along the way he dredges up the seamy underbelly of American prejudice and ignorance. Now the cat is out of the bag, what will Cohen do for an encore?
Rated: 15 [See Full Rating] for pervasive strong crude and sexual content including graphic nudity, and language
Runtime: 86 mins
Genre: Comedies
Theatrical Release:02-11-2006
Synopsis: Jagshemash! Sacha Baron Cohen, the star and creator of HBO's "Da Ali G Show," brings his Kazakh journalist character Borat Sagdiyev to the big screen for the first time. Leaving his native... Jagshemash! Sacha Baron Cohen, the star and creator of HBO's "Da Ali G Show," brings his Kazakh journalist character Borat Sagdiyev to the big screen for the first time. Leaving his native Kazakhstan, Borat travels to America to make a documentary. As he zigzags across the nation, Borat meets real people in real situations with hysterical consequences. His backwards behavior generates strong reactions around him, exposing prejudices and hypocrisies in American culture. In some cases, Borat's interview subjects embrace his outrageous views on race and sex by agreeing with him, while others attempt to offer a patriotic lesson in Western values. Wa-wa-wee-wa! Hilarious. Jaw-dropping. Inflammatory. Dangerous. Subversive. Borat, a satirical Kazakh journalist caricature invented and portrayed by Sacha Baron Cohen, has been called all this – and more. Borat became a phenomenon in the U.K. with the comedy series "Da Ali G Show," in which Baron Cohen's outlandish humor and razor-sharp satire on anti-Semitism, misogyny and racism, came to life through his creation's bizarre behavior and interviews. Baron Cohen's innovative and unique work has brought him two BAFTA awards. "Da Ali G Show" was a worldwide phenomenon, and Baron Cohen is the only person to twice host the European MTV Awards. Dictionaries added two words based on his characters' "inventive" use of the English language, and even the Queen Mother was a fan. In addition, Baron Cohen received critical plaudits for his role opposite Will Ferrell in this summer's blockbuster comedy "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby." Also, Baron Cohen was the voice of the King of the Lemurs in "Madagascar." Even before its release, critics heralded BORAT: CULTURAL LEARNINGS OF AMERICA FOR MAKE BENEFIT GLORIOUS NATION OF KAZAKHSTAN as one of the funniest pictures of all time, and it became the highest-rated comedy on the Internet Movie Database (IMDB.com). The film's humor and acclaim stem from its comedy "dream team": Sacha Baron Cohen, Larry Charles from "Seinfeld" and Jay Roach, director of the "Austin Powers" films. Baron Cohen and Roach are the film's producers, with Charles serving as director. The production of BORAT – as one might expect about a project centered on the character – was unlike any other. Baron Cohen, whose commitment to the role is unwaveringly intense, stayed in character through the shooting, and elected to conduct publicity and interviews promoting the picture, as Borat. --© 20th Century Fox [More]
Starring: Sacha Baron Cohen, Pamela Anderson, Ken Davitian
Starring: Sacha Baron Cohen, Pamela Anderson, Ken Davitian
Director: Larry Charles
Director: Larry Charles
Producer: Jay Roach
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Reviews for Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make...
Borat may be marked as a clownish, regressive foreigner, but as often as not in America he seems right at home.
The genius of Borat is all in Sacha Baron Cohen's daring, edgy, unrestrained performance.
Uma comédia não apenas engraçadíssima (algo cada vez mais raro), mas também inteligente e repleta de observações importantes sobre a Sociedade norte-americana contemporânea.
... contrary to what the cynical profess, it is possible to cheat an honest man. It's certainly easier to fool the naive and the innocent than your average wised-up consumer of pop culture.
En se donnant lui-même carte blanche, Cohen conféra une étonnante crédibilité à un personnage qui, en soi, n'en a absolument aucune.
Un falso documental bastante transgresor e irregular que desafía lo políticamente correcto. Su mayor logro es desnudar la hipocresía, el racismo y la xenofobia del estadounidense promedio.
To my mind, BORAT may have worked better on the small screen and in smaller amounts. At only 82 minutes, the movie felt padded out and it began to peter out.
It's theatrical genius: Cohen has devised a split-level act in which being hooked off the stage by his in-the-movie audience makes for success with his at-the-movie audience.
Horrifying, vulgar and exploitative, yet simultaneously inspired, brilliant, convulsively hilarious, and easily the funniest film of the year.
That Cohen never breaks character, no matter the situation, is a true testament to his comic genius. He and director Larry Charles ("Curb Your Enthusiasm") have created the funniest film since "Something About Mary," and believe me, that's a rave review.
A force of political provocation less on the level of the cuddly Archie Bunker and more on that of Pasolini's libertines in Salò and Pink Flamingos' "filthiest people alive."
I may never recover, but it's worth seeing. Just leave your sensibilities at home. .
1) See the movie and laugh. 2) Go out and do something very sweet for someone you don't even know to balance things out.
As hard as I laughed watching Borat and Azamat's naked, hairy man-on-man fight over a Baywatch magazine, it was more enlightening to sit in an RV listening to white frat boys talk about how minority women catch all the breaks.
After a while, the gaggle of idiots, creeps and stuffed shirts Borat comes in contact with becomes repetitive.
While Borat is not the revolution some entertainment writers would have you believe it does offer a pleasant night in the theater.
Borat is the movie of the year, the picture that makes all other films irrelevant.
Latest News for Borat: Cultural Learnings of America...
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