29 thoughts on “John Reviews Borat

  1. Listen, wake up. It isn’t often that a film comes along, however it is marketed, and makes you laugh like Borat does. This is going to be a jem-movie, and i’d give it a 9 out of 10. Laughter on this scale is just to damn precious to give it anything less than that, and if you can’t see that you’re a fool. The man is a comic Genius of the likes of Andy Kaufman, and not since Kaufman has a comedian become his alter-egos with not a damn in the world what you or anyone else thinks, or who he offends. This is true comedy, to not care about racism, sexism, gay, feminism, and even incest and prostitution, and most of all, Male Dominance in developing countries and anti-semitsm. To be a true comedian you have to be no-holds-barred, and not alow anything to limit your creative processes, and coen does just that. Furthermore, all the issues he raises with the viewer in whatever comic light are evident in the world, they are the kind of things that nothing can be done about and that can leave you disalusioned with life. Then coen comes along and says, hey, if there’s nothing we can do about it, as individuals, f uck it, lets find a way to laugh about it.

    It’s like what Charles Manson said about his family and their sex-orgies out in the desert, ‘f uck it man, the universe is just one great big f uck anyway; you eat, you shit; you drink, you piss; it’s all in and out; it’s all one great big f uck.

    For me, personally, the most unique comedy to go balls-to-the-walls before i saw this was The Big LEbowski.

    But this film is up there with the life of brian, with all the fuss it has caused and all the idiots it has bated and ofended when it is just all one great big joke, reflecting neither the true opinion of coen or the state of khazakstan.

    jesus, the khazakstan goverment is even publishing reports agaist Borat the movie and publishing in newspapers about the true country Khazakstan is and the khaszie embassy is going to speak personally with george bush.

    and meanwhile coen is just having a laugh while he reaps his millions.

    It going to be a true classic.

  2. I’m sorry folks, but, this sophomoric, adolescent piece of shit for a movie has every one of us fooled. We the viewer are as much a victim as the people being duped in the movie.

    I must admit Cohen is genius at holding up a mirror to the stupidity of Americans as he laughs HIS way to the bank. Good on you Cohen, but, duh, they don’t get it!

  3. Setting the Borat issue straight on Behalf of Kazakhstan
    Like millions of Americans I have seen the Borat movie but unlike many I have been to Kazakhstan — also spelled Kazakstan — and I want to set the record straight. Kazakhstan is a wonderful country with customs that are both foreign and familiar to ours. In fact, there are many things I would take back to America. Borat (Sasha Cohen) has made this country look like it is populated with nothing but slovenly, unwashed, immoral, uneducated people – this is almost completely false in my experience. No, they don’t have an Ivy League educational system but these people for the most part are good-hearted and, if not well-read by our American standards, they do love storytelling. They ritually gather at village centers – usually this is where bartering and exchanges are conducted for food and services – and they share their knowledge by applying the oral tradition (please let’s not lower ourselves to the Boratian ‘oral’ jokes here). Yes, their technology is not at the state where ours is yet so they compensate with conversation, face to face. I’d actually like to see more of this in our world versus the faceless interchange of the internet. We might be a happier people. This helps their families stay close – and, again to refute Borat’s incest insinuations, this is not a national sport and I saw very little there to give one pause to consider it is more than a rare occurrence which is indeed not looked well upon even in the most rural stretches. These are a happy people with great values.
    No, Borat, they do not make their 8 year old children work by force. And women can vote in all elections. Legal age to wed is up to the families themselves. They are not a race of anti-Semites – they have a small Jewish population of over 170 who are situated by their own free will to live in a ghetto. But this is common: America and the world are replete with communities where people of similar backgrounds and mindsets gather and create neighborhoods – we have all been to Chinatown, Little Italy, Germantown. The food in Kazakhstan is some of the best tasting I have ever had in all my travels; always fresh. You cannot believe what they do with their vegetables and their goats (although Borat only highlights the sexual engagements – another exaggeration at their expense. I never saw anything like what the comedian speaks of. But let us not be so self righteous to forget about our own iconic cowboys who have gotten lonely on the trail — and the stories about them and cattle – rumors as well, I’m sure.) The people of Kazakhstan are indeed passionate and excellent dancers – Borat showed us that and the men do generally dance with great fanfare with each other as he indicated but again this is not unlike many countries. Most of all, I would take home to America the laughter and kindness of these simple people – they tell jokes all day on all subjects especially special family events. If your daughter is married in Kazakhstan, she is not sold for a VCR with a remote control like Borat says – and, remember, in America many brides’ parents still offer dowries or at least pay for the wedding so we are not really so different. The bride, as is the custom of Kazakhstan, is always asked to work for both families – this brings everyone closer. During the days she might, for example, work at the dairy or farm and nights she might sew or cook or clean and it is not uncommon for the young bride to have a say in the family financials. One fact to consider is that women in Kazakhstan do not live as long as men. This is the opposite of the statistics in the United States. So I wouldn’t want to live there with my present wife and daughter. Other than that, Kazakhstan is a place we can learn from. In closing, please realize the difference between a false documentary or propaganda and pure fiction. While the Borat film is funny, it is not real in many ways – although the men, as he showed in his movie too graphically for many tastes, do not consider nudity offensive. They swim without bathing suits and walk after their swim back into town often with nothing but towels around their necks. Their innocence is something to be admired — and if not, one can simply shield one’s eyes. There are a great many people in Kazakhstan who are offended by the publicity and news stories about Borat’s film though they will not see it due to the fact there are not many movie theatres there.

  4. John:

    I don’t know if there were any other Borat related injuries last weekend, but I suffered one. During the fight scene I laughed so hard that I pulled a muscle in my upper back.

  5. Definitely not a 10/10. There were too many obvious set-ups. I much prefer the unscripted and off-the-cuff comedy he does on TV. The Jew jokes were outstanding but I was left kinda disappointed after so much hype.

    Overall I’d say 7/10. Worth seeing, but far away from being the funniest movie that I have ever seen.

  6. Awesome movie….I don’t know if its the funniest movie ever, because comedy is a relative thing, but it comes pretty darn close….I have not laughed so hard in a movie in a long time….

    great review by John….

    I gave it a 4 out of 5 (i like that scale better)

    -Langda Tyagi
    moviewalah.com

  7. Funny yes, most belly laughs perhaps, and it’s smart, but I can’t see how much rewatch value BORAT will have. It’s too disgusting in parts to have lasting appeal. Scenes which take you by such surprise get the big laughs on initial viewings…

    For the record, the funniest movies ever made are:

    A Fish Called Wanda
    The Life of Brian
    The Big Lebowski

    Honorable Mention:

    Clerks
    Dr. Strangelove (which still has a longer full title than Borat)
    Ghostbusters
    Evil Dead II
    This is Spinal Tap
    Without a Clue

    As much as I busted a gut watching BORAT, I have my doubts that it will end up on the ‘classic’ pile.

  8. Great review. I don’t agree with the 10 out of 10, I gave it 8/10. I wanted more interviews with people because I laughed so much when he would interact with the public. Like when Borat is on the subway and he says ”What is your name?” and the man replies with something like ”My name is mind your own fucking business”.

    One of my favorite lines were ”I bring gypsy tears in a jar to protect me from aids in America”. Oh and ”HI-FIVE”

  9. I was waiting to see John’s review of Borat. Because if he hated it, I was going to stop coming to this website for not understanding the genius of the movie. John you understood it so good job! The movie is BETTER then the skits, I came into the movie not thinking a movie length Borat skit could work, BOY WAS I WRONG!!!!!!!!!

    ALSO if you happend to catch Borat on any tv interviews this last week, he was GENIUS. He was bringing up stuff that isnt even in the movie or making new skits and new material with his character. On TV INTERVIEWS THIS WEEK he was making all these jokes about the recent Madonna adoption topic.

    Borat does deserve a 10/10 for the type of movie it is, it is the best I have ever seen.

    If you have not seen BORAT, go see it. Worth its weight in gold.

    You have to see it in the movie theatres to get the full effect.

  10. JEW EGG. I still keep laughing about that, Krintina! Awesome. This movie is so ‘laugh-out-loud’ funny.

    The original show consists of only real people doing stuff with no particular plotline. I hate when movie like this tries to make some plotline. Almost every scene that was staged to help that dumb plotline ruined me the movie a little. But reactions by those real people in this movie were absolutely priceless. Definitely one of the funniest comedies ever made.

    I wonder what Doug would say about this.

  11. I never was quite sure what the appeal of this comedian was, much less the Borat character. I avoided the film this past weekend because I felt that the actor/comedian took his act too far into reality in regards to pronoting the ilm and it turned me off.

    That said, it seems to have worked (#1, with almost a 30 mil take), a lot of people, including John, says it is funny as hell. I might just be swayed.

    Oh, what’s John doing with You Tube?

  12. Great review! I saw this opening night and the stuff you said about the social commentary is what impressed me more about this movie than even the laughs. I’m glad you mentioned it.

    But oh my god, two words. JEW EGG. I thought I was going to die!

  13. I saw it over the weekend as well in a packed theatre on a Saturday afternoon. It was really a joy to see it with a crowded group and I do agree that it was mostly non-stop laughes. However, I think the constant marketing ruined part of the movie for me. I have seen so many clips and previews online and on TV that it seemed that I had seen 25% of the film before I stepped into the theatre. I’d probably give it an 8.5 or 9 out of 10 though. To be honest though, I probably laughed more at Talladega Nights than Borat (both of which I will definitely buy on DVD).

  14. Saw this on the weekend. OMFG this is amazing. I don’t know if I’d go as far as you and say it’s the funniest movie ever, but I can’t disagree with the 10/10. I’ve never seen an audience laugh as much in my life. Or myself for that matter. Nice review!

  15. Campia is once again completely wrong. Wrong like only mr raving lunatic can be. 10 out of 10? HA! It’s clearly a 9.5/10. Jesus, enough with the hyperbole already.

  16. never a dull moment in this movie, i have to agree w/ camp on this one. Sacha Cohen deserves every cent of profit for this movie

    if no one has seen the HBO da Ali G show and the movie version you really should check it out

  17. Wow. 10 of 10. While I’m glad you liked it that much, I have to disagree about the funniest movie ever.

    Granted I saw a screener 2 months ago and some stuff may have been edited or changed since then, but all the scenes that aren’t part of the interactions with real people (i.e. the obviously scripted parts while he’s in America) are not funny and border on boring at times.

    Plus, as much as I love Borat on the Ali G show, it works because it’s a great skit. A full length feature of it gets a little long and tired by the end.

    Having said all that, I do mostly agree with you. It IS hilarious and I highly recommend it. I wouldn’t hesitate to see this movie again (and maybe again). And I also agree Cohen is a comedic genius. But Borat is not a 10 star “movie film.” Sorry. More like an 8 1/2.

    ~Drewbacca
    MoviePatron.com

Leave a Reply