I’ll be honest: I haven’t seen the first Borat and have never really had a particular desire to see it. Even though this resurrected installment garnered two Oscar nods – Best Supporting Actress and Best Adapted Screenplay – it’s not one that I really prioritized in making up the list of movies I wanted to try and get to before the Oscars. However, some of the things I heard about it intrigued me, so when I saw that I had space for it in my viewing schedule, I decided to fit it in.
14 years after his notorious documentary made Kazakhstan the laughing stock of the world, Borat is sent back to America to present a gift to Donald Trump, in the hopes that Kazakhstan will be able to earn a place in Trump’s political strong-man club. Through a series of mishaps, Borat arrives in the U.S. without the gift and discovers that his teenage daughter has accidentally stowed away. Together, father and daughter travel America and try to figure out how to get into the administration’s good graces, fulfilling Borat’s mission.
Along with the first Borat, I haven’t seen any of Sacha Baron Cohen’s films, though I’m acquainted with his M.O. of comedy, a mix of outrageously-vulgar humor and baiting real-life bigots into showing their asses. Had I not read anything about this movie before going in, I wouldn’t have expected as much story as we get here. Obviously, there’s plenty of racist-baiting, misogynist-baiting, and general-purpose A-hole-baiting, but there’s also a mild but clearly-plotted evolution of Borat’s relationship with his daughter Tutar as both of them come to realize that not everything Kazakhstan has taught them about girls is true (for example, daughters don’t need to live in livestock cages, and your vagina won’t bite your hand if you touch it.) An odd blend of sweet and cynical, it’s nice for what it is, and Tutar is an endearing character.
2020 America, though, proves a more-than-fertile stomping ground for Baron Cohen. Once Borat gets around the fact that a bunch of people recognize him from the original movie (multiple sequences therefore feature him in disguise,) he tackles CPAC, anti-lockdown protests, crisis pregnancy centers, the Trump administration, QAnon, and more. Choice A-hole-baiting moments for me include an old man at a debutante ball answering Borat’s question about how much money Tutar is likely worth and a baker accommodating Borat’s request for a cake decorated with the words “Jews Will Not Replace Us.”
On the whole, this isn’t really my cup of tea, though I can see what the film is setting out to do and it admittedly does it well. It’s impressive to see the lengths Baron Cohen goes to get inside some pretty virulent places, along with Maria Bakalova, who’s nominated for her performance as Tutar and matches him pound for pound. The most interesting moments are the ones where he exposes people’s prejudice and ugliness, but the main humor doesn’t really interest me. It’s the type of “ironically racist/sexist/anti-Semitic” comedy that employs the same sort of lines you’d hear from a toxic shock-jock, but it’s sanctioned because it’s being used as commentary. Not really my thing.
Warnings
Strong thematic elements (including references to incest and child marriages,) racist/sexist/anti-Semitic jokes, strong language (including ethnic and sexist slurs,) sexual content, and gross-out humor.
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