This “Borat” more entertaining, offensive
Fourteen years is long enough to forget just how hard it is to write about a “Borat” movie.
In 2006, the brilliant Sacha Baron Cohen released his first big- screen serving of his outlandish Kazakh journalist character, Borat Sagdiyev, interacting with — for the most part, anyway — real folks unaware they were taking part in a mockumentary comedy.
“Borat” — the longer title of which is “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan” — was a commercial and critical success.
It was incredibly hilarious and also incredibly outlandish. The movie earned an R rating for “pervasive strong crude and sexual content including graphic nudity, and language.”
That only kinda covers it.
Well, Baron Cohen’s frequently cringe- inducing creation is back in “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm,” which is being released on Amazon’s Prime Video platform. As was the case with its predecessor, much of its content can’t be very deeply explored in a publication for a general audience. ( The film warns at the start it is unsuitable for children under 3. Thanks for that. Very helpful.)
Like the first “Borat,” “Subsequent Moviefilm” is about an hour and a half of crude, rude, clever and not- always- fair fare.
This time out, Baron Cohen primarily is interested in skewering America’s political right, especially the far end of that spectrum.
While this sequel’s longer title is “Borat: Gift of Sexy Monkey to Vice Premier Mikhael Pence for Make Benefit Recently Diminished Nation of Kazakhstan,” it primarily sees Borat working to gift his underage daughter to Vice President Michael Pence and, when that fails, instead to famed Trump lawyer and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
Why? Because, we are told, Kazakhstan’s leader is frustrated that although President Donald J. Trump has become friendly with so many of the world’s authoritarian leaders, he hasn’t cozied up to him. So Borat — condemned to a life of labor in a gulag after the release of the first movie made Kazakhstan the butt of jokes — is released to go back to the U. S. on a mission.
The intention is to present as a gift to Trump, via Pence, Johnny the Monkey — the country’s minister of culture and a, um, famous actor. However, Borat’s daughter, Tutar ( Maria Bakalova), stows away in the primate’s crate and
... eats him during the long journey to the U. S.
Yeah.
So, instead, Borat sets about turning the unkempt — and underage — teen into the kind of woman he believes would be acceptable to a ladies man ( not the term the movie uses) such as Pence.
For roughly the first half of “Subsequent Moviefilm,” Borat and Tutar make stops that include a visit to a supposed Instagram influencer — Borat refers to the young blond woman who will teach Tutar how to find a “sugar daddy” as “one of America’s leading feminists” — as well as a hair salon, spray- tan business, bakery, a surgical center offering breast augmentation and a women’s health center. ( From that, you should be able to guess some, if not all, of the themes explored by Baron Cohen and the movie’s other credited writers.)
This all culminates with the pair working their way into February’s Conservative Political Action Conference, where Pence is a speaker. Borat enters CPAC loudly claiming to be Stephen Miller, senior advisor to the president, while wearing quite the attention- grabbing costume.
Wow.
Even though Borat then uses a different disguise he thinks will appeal more to Pence, he soon must move on to Plan B: Giuliani.
However, Borat has a falling out with Tutar, who comes to realize women aren’t the incredibly limited humans her father has painted them to be.
Also around this point in the movie’s production, the novel coronavirus pandemic becomes a part of daily life, and Borat finds shelter with a pair of conspiracy theory- believing gents. He soon attends a right- wing political rally with them, and let’s just say Baron Cohen gets a lot out of this opportunity.
That’s what’s so remarkable about watching the actor- comedian perform as Borat, as well as his other well- known fictional personas. Surely plenty of lackluster footage is left on the cutting- room floor, but Baron Cohen nonetheless consistently showcases an incredible gift for absolutely
fearless improv.
That said, as with the first Borat movie and other similar offerings from Baron Cohen, it’s easy for the viewer to become distracted while wondering who may be in on the joke. Supposedly, most interactions are with the unsuspecting, but some are just hard to believe given what happens. Clearly, one man who may not have been a knowing participant early in “Subsequent Moviefilm” is by the end.
Speaking of being distracted, it’s fair to wonder while watching the movie what COVID- 19- related protocols were being followed as Baron Cohen gets physically close to some folks Borat encounters in the second half. ( We can’t say that we love the movie poster that has Borat wearing a facial covering over his privates and text that reads: “Wear Mask. Save Live.”)
To that end, it’s hard to argue with anyone who
finds his brand of humor offensive.
Counted among those who do, almost certainly, is Giuliani. He reportedly called New York City police after a run- in with Baron Cohen in a hotel room following what, presumably, Giuliani thought was a real interview with Bakalova’s character. ( We’ll leave it to viewers to think what they will of Giuliani’s post- interview behavior, when he seemingly does not know he’s being filmed.)
We should save a bit of praise for Bulgarian actress Bakalova (“Gomorrah”), who’s not wellknown in this country. She proves to be an able sidekick to Baron Cohen, which can’t be an easy task.
Also worth lauding is director Jason Woliner (“Parks and Recreation”), who keeps things moving toward a climactic scene inspired by the famous ending of a mid- 1990s film.