Borat fever has taken over the U.S. Whether you're offended, bursting at the seams with laughter or indifferent toward this offbeat, off-color "native" of "Kazakhstan," it's evident that the actor playing him -- Sacha Baron Cohen (Da Ali G Show, Talladega Nights) -- has hit the jackpot. The only problem is the joke's on us.
The hype for Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan has rivaled that of the internet-fueled cult phenomenon Snakes on a Plane. However, while Samuel L. Jackson and his reptile friends met expectations of camp and gore, the same cannot be said for Borat delivering on his end of the bargain.
Don't get me wrong, the film is enjoyable overall and made me laugh several times despite the scene of excessive male nudity and numerous accounts of anti-Semitism.
It's just some of the prominently funny moments in the movie have already been shown in advertisements, so when a scene is setup, the audience is pretty much aware of what will happen next.
Baron Cohen has even done the talk show circuit in the Borat character, lending more to the predictability in the movie.
Many of the title character's off-the-wall antics revolve around him falling in love with Pamela Anderson -- who when finally appears in the movie is obviously in on the staged scene -- and going on a quest to find her in California.
However, Baron Cohen's true talent is getting people into awkward situations or having them open up to him and impress their own view of what America should be in one-on-one interviews.
He is a true master at his craft and hardly breaks character even when he is naked in an elevator with many strangers.
Regardless of the hype, the movie has many different qualities that make it both enjoyable and difficult to stomach. And this isn't when Borat is talking. Even when he is making some of his more distasteful comments, Baron Cohen gives the character a charming quality that reminds you Borat means no real harm; he's merely a blank slate reflecting the views of an ignorant public.
In truth, the real comedy comes when these reflections shine through and Baron Cohen doesn't have to say a word to make these people look like complete idiots.
One of the more offensive lines of dialogue comes from an Anti-Muslim, homophobic rodeo promoter who, among other things, tells Borat that we in America are trying to hang gay people.
There's also a trio of sexist University of South Carolina fraternity brothers who, while they don't speak actual coherent sentences, still offend because they're representing our age group in 800 theaters across the country.
Even though many of his anti-Semitic jokes go unfounded, Baron Cohen himself is Jewish and is merely posing as an echo to the derogatory remarks he invokes out of the unsuspecting public.
This type of humor has boomed in popularity, and is justified because the people making the jokes are a part of the demographic being ridiculed -- think Dave Chappelle justifying making fun of black people because he himself is black.
Despite all of this, the real offensive material in all of this doesn't come from the movie at all -- it comes from the audience members who aren't in on the satire.
If you go to the theater, they'll be the ones actually agreeing with some of the more offensive jokes and calling the sexist frat guys "true scholars."
These are the people who, had they been approached by the production company of the movie, probably would have participated unsuspectingly and been made to look like idiots on an international level.
Hopefully the Borat phenomenon will wear its welcome like the Napoleon Dynamite storm of '04, and Baron Cohen will continue to hone is comedic talents and be a success beyond the confines of Borat's rumpled suit.
GRADE: C+
