Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan

As far as mockumentary films go, Borat (2006) is at least in the top five. It may have not been as groundbreaking as This Is Spinal Tap (1984), but its use of real people's reactions to a parody of Eastern European stereotypes still shocks today. Perhaps having experienced some of the American sub-cultures that were mocked is what makes those parts of this film funny to me. It certainly has its gross-out moments, but Sacha Baron Cohen's performance is iconic.

I think what makes Borat one of the best mockumentary films is its unscripted nature. Sure, they wrote Borat's dialogue in such a way as to provoke people (or get them to open up about their own racism/sexism/homophobia). However, the responses from these people feel completely genuine. The ones who accept Sacha Baron Cohen's bit and try to play their part straight are perhaps the funniest moments in the movie. Plus, I don't know if I can trust ice cream trucks after watching this.

While a lot of this movie is funny, the sexual and scatological jokes haven't aged that well. I never cared for the extended sequence of two naked men wrestling through a hotel when I watched this movie the first time, anyway. For such a short film, some sequences seem to go on a bit too long past the point of being funny. I wonder if they just left the camera rolling long enough for these people to incriminate themselves and didn't want to cut anything from that footage. At any rate, this mockumentary borders on an unflinching documentary of cringe-worthy American sub-cultures. And if we can't laugh at ourselves, then maybe we're taking a movie like Borat too seriously.

An unscripted mockumentary that ranks in the best of the genre, I give Borat 4.0 stars out of 5.

The laughter is genuine even when I was appalled at what I was laughing at. Is Sacha Baron Cohen a genius of sorts or the biggest smart ass to hit the screens in a long, very long time? He makes John Waters appear like an (old) Disney product. The nastiness works because it is immediately recognizable and his targets live next door if not with me between my four walls. It is a social-horror-documentary. The three guys talking about women between beer and beer was so horribly real that I wanted to leave the theater laughing and screaming at the same time. Borat is not tender about his own background either. He is an equal opportunity offender if I ever saw one. The world is a cesspool and nobody is immune. Even his innocence is corrupt. I've been considering seeing it again, as the whole thing in one single disgusting lump was too much to take but I'm not sure I want to. I'll wait for the DVD where I'll be able to select and discard. My only question is now, what will Sacha Baron Cohen do for an encore.

Wonderfull movie. You laugh until you cry. A perfect portrait of american culture.

I didn't really think I was gonna like this going into it. It seemed like the sort of comedy that was just grating and would irritate me but I gave it a chance.

It really surprised me. It's hilarious. I didn't realise that it was a sort of "hidden camera" for lack of a better word, movie. It used real people and puts them in these insane situations. I think it's so interesting to see how people react.

It's also likes to dig into peoples life's and get them to expose the awful parts of them selfs. The part with the men on the bus springs to mind. It is truly disgusting and this movie Lulls them into this place where they expose them selfs. It's incredibly interesting.

In terms of pure unadulterated cringe-worthiness, this film just about outshines them all. It is brilliant, horrific, hilarious, sad, outrageous, revealing, and incredibly clever. It shows up people's narrow-mindedness, their racism, their inability to accept or understand different cultures. It makes me scared for the future of the world, and delighted that someone actually sees most people for what they really are - blinkered and uneducated.

Go and rent it, and enjoy. It will make you want to be a better person, make you laugh until you almost cry, and undoubtedly make you hide behind a cushion at times.

Sacha Baron-Cohen is a genius. A definite 10 out of 10.