If it were not for the overwhelming barrage of homework I could make a strong case for these last few weeks being the best of my life. Not only did I get to witness the concert event of a lifetime in B.A. Johnston, but
this past Friday I also got to see comedic genius Sacha Baron Cohen work his magic in his new film “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.

     This article could have just as easily been a scathing argument against Fox and their reducing Borat to 800 theatres from its original 2000. As you might know Borat did not come to Prince George on its opening weekend
because of this. Surprisingly no one really wanted to go see “Santa Clause 3” or “Flushed Away”, and Borat closed its opening weekend at the number one spot in the box office, even while showing in about a quarter of the locations. Luckily Fox would be hard pressed to ignore the almighty dollar and decided to expand Borat for its second weekend.

     As for the movie itself, it is absolutely brilliant. If you are not familiar with the character Borat, he is the fictional Kazakh journalist played by British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen of HBO’s Da Ali G Show. Cohen, Jewish himself, plays Borat as an anti-Semitic, anti-feminist man from Kazakhstan, a nation that he portrays as culturally backwards. Cohen has his critics and has taken a lot of heat for this character, but mainly from
people who do not get the joke. Borat is a satire, and a brilliant one at that. When he asks a car dealer how fast he would have to hit a Gypsy in a Hummer to ensure they are killed, and the dealer actually takes him at
face value and gives him an answer, the joke is not on Gypsy’s or Kazakhstan, but rather on the incredible ignorance inherent in Western culture.

     Borat has been sent to America by the Kazakh government to, as the title crudely states, learn about its culture. He begins in New York with his producer/fluffer Azamat (Ken Davitian). Borat soon discovers an American woman so beautiful that he makes it his goal to travel to California to wed her in the traditional Kazakh way, that woman is Pamela Anderson. The rest of the movie plays out as a road movie as we follow Borat and Azamat
driving cross-country in an old ice cream truck, making some interesting stops in the American south along the way. I do not want to give away too much but watch out for the fight scene between Borat and Azamat; you will
probably laugh harder than you have in your entire life.

     There have been a few smart funny movies that came out recently such as “Thank You for Smoking” that caused me to have a few chuckles and think “that is funny.” Borat however, is in a realm of funniness all its own. No more than fifteen seconds goes by in this movie before you are once again laughing uproariously and gasping for air. Borat is easily the best movie that has been made all year. Make sure to keep an eye out for another of
Cohen’s characters in theaters next summer, Bruno, the journalist for Austria Gay TV.

5/5.