Comedies are inherently difficult to review – does being funny make it a successful cinematic endeavor? I’m not sure I know the answer to that question, neither from my own point of view or in a general sense. However, I am quite sure that Borat goes beyond a hilarious mockumentary and into the realm of meaningful social commentary. It is not the funniest movie ever made; some scenes are repetitive and others you may have to hide your eyes a few times to get through. But, I don’t care about that, I was impressed most by scenes such as the one in which Borat receives social etiquette lessons from a rich family in the deep South. They do not raise their voices when, being naïve about proper toilet use, Borat brings his poop back to the table. But, they scream that he must leave immediately when he invites his black, prostitute (but otherwise lovely!) girlfriend to the soiree. Another meaningful scene involves a group of college frat boys on an RV spewing idiotic comments about women. Their subsequent lawsuits are just silly. Regardless of the producer’s offer of alcohol to loosen them up, they were not forced to drink ALL of it. Moreover, the values they portrayed were obviously instilled a long time ago. In short, Borat delves into the prejudices of America that are normally left to the realm of "serious" films ... and that is very nice indeed.
Critic's Review.
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