Item: Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
Rating: 8
Author: Filip Vukcevic

You can forget the comedy romps of the '90s - the past five years have given us some of the best comedies to ever grace the silver screen. And we now have another to add to the list. Borat proudly joins the The 40 Year Old Virgin, Napoleon Dynamite, and the recently released Talladega Nights as yet another worthy entry in the pantheon of contemporary comedy greats.

Borat, recently glimpsed by us at the Toronto International Film Festival, is offensive, ridiculous, and often quite unbelievable. But what would you expect from a movie with a full title as unwieldy as Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan? This immaculate work of cinema sees Sacha Baron Cohen (Da Ali G Show) take his mustachioed Kazakh reporter, Borat Sagdiyev, across America. The results, as Borat would say, are "very nice."

Charged by his government with an important mission - to learn about America - Borat sets out with his friend and documentary producer, Azamat Bagatov (Ken Davitian) to get to the heart of the America condition. To understand the inner workings of Western society. To learn lessons for his people and better his country. To jump in the sack with Pamela Anderson (would it surprise you to learn that there is an actual sack involved?).

You see, on one of Borat's first nights in America he happens to stumble across a television series... one featuring a golden-haired, supple, and buxom goddess. An angel named C.J. Upon learning that this woman is a real person, Borat convinces his documentary producer that it would be in their best interest to make their way to California. It is there, Borat claims, that the true cultural learnings of America can take place. So what if it also happens to be the home of "Pamala Andersons", a woman who, unlike Borat's fifteen-year-old wife, does not have a deep voice or a "vagine" like a "wizard's sleeve"?

Driven by blind love, Borat makes his way from the East Coast to the West, making several stopovers along the away. Remember, Borat is still trying to make his documentary. The journey is filled with one hilarious gag after another, each larger and more outrageous than the last.

This character, and movie, would absolutely not work without the amazing comedic talents of star and writer Sacha Baron Cohen. He completely embodies Borat and is so straight-faced and convincing in the part that you forget that this is an actor playing a role. From his unique mangling of the English language to his ability to goad innocent bystanders into obscene gags, Cohen is a sight to behold.

The film was shot in a semi-documentary style (few of the people in the movie are actors, most don't have the slightest idea that it is all a joke), and Cohen manages to milk each encounter for all that it's worth, giving the movie a wonderful spontaneous feel.

There are a handful of gags that you see a movie like this for, and Borat delivers, each centerpiece a virtuoso display of a man who knows how to get laughs. In one sequence Borat is invited to host a Mid-Western rodeo. Clad in a shirt resembling the American flag, Borat takes to the mic and praises America to increasingly ridiculous extremes: "May your Warlord George Bush kill the terrorist men, women, and children, and drink their blood!" In another sequence, Borat is invited to a prim and proper dinner party, where he proceeds to insult everyone at the table, defecate in a bag, and invite a prostitute as his guest. Later, he approaches a woman who is having a garage sale, convinced that she is a gypsy (whose tears can cure AIDS), and proclaims: "Gypsy, I am here for your tears. Give them to me or I will take them from you!" Needless to say, the woman is shocked.

The ultimate gag is found near the close of the film and, without spoiling anything, is so extreme, insane, and long that you will not be able to stop laughing for several minutes. Sadly, the grand finale, while funny, fails to live up to this hilarious lead-in.

While the humor is great, it's also terribly offensive. Almost every single joke relies on ridiculing one group or another, with Jews being the biggest target (Cohen is Jewish). If you're easily offended you should not see this film. That also brings us to Borat's main flaw: while the humor is great, it's not for everybody. Comedy is at its best when it can be enjoyed by everyone, and it takes a certain sense of humor to appreciate Borat. That being said, most of the offensive material is so ludicrous that you'd have to be a little off-kilter to take it seriously. Disturbingly, the most offensive parts are where Borat says something totally racist or stupid, and the person he is talking to doesn't object (in some cases, the individual agrees!).

Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan is one of the funniest and most extreme movies of the past several years. Considering how great comedy films have been these past few years, that's saying a lot. If you're a fan of comedy movies, you'll have a blast here.