Borat: Hilarious Cultural Learnings

As a journalist, one of the things I'm always grateful for is having the ability to get into movies even when they're sold out. Such was the case this evening at a screening of Borat at Harvard. I was told more than 300 people were turned away.(For advance screenings theaters are over booked, so it's always a smart move to arrive at least 45 minutes early.)

This movie, Borat - or to be more precise: Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan - it's a hell of a thing. Funny? Oh yeah! I'll go as far as to say it's even a little scary. I mean, the situations Sacha Baron Cohen puts himself in for this movie are just... well, let me put it this way: there's the saying 'Don't go there.' Sacha Baron Cohen 'Goes there.'



I don't want to come off like I know what I'm talking about. So, right up front, here's the deal: I knew next to nothing about the character Borat prior to tonight's screening. I'd seen some photos. I saw a short clip of Cohen speaking in character at the San Diego Comicon. But that was it. As much as I've wanted to watch the Ali G show, I'd never gotten around to it. So I'll admit: Borat was somewhat of a mystery. But maybe that was a good thing?

Watching Borat with almost no preconception was sort of an uneasy experience. I mean, who the hell is this guy anyway and what's all the hubbub about? Five minutes into the movie, I swear, I was thinking of what it might be like to walk out and head on over to the Border Cafe for a burrito. The movie was looking like a bore-fest.

But then, wouldn't you know it, this guy Borat is just so strange it doesn't take long to warm up to him. He's a really likeable, well-meaning guy; just seriously lost when it comes to customs outside his homeland Kazakhistan. And that's what this movie's about: it's one hilarious episode after another dealing with Borat's attempt to relate to Americans.

One of the funniest moments in the movie, however, isn't about relating to Americans. It's between Borat and his producer, who has taken Borat's newly acquired Baywatch magazine. The fight in their hotel room is, without doubt, one of the funniest and most disturbing sequences in any movie this year. You just have to see it to believe it.

Borat opens nationwide November 4th. Click here for the official site.