By Christopher Stipp

Archives? Right Here…

It was a testament to how bad I needed to see this movie.

When I reviewed the trailer for BORAT last week the day the review went live I was in sweating in San Diego at the Comic-Con, sitting in the sprawling, and overly expansive, hall H. The SNAKES ON A PLANE roundtable interviews had just let out just a few minutes prior and on my way into the heart of geek darkness that held so many thousands of us to see what 20^th Century Fox was going to be offering in the coming months I was handed a button. It was a large button that had a picture on it: Sacha Baren Cohen, as Borat, holding a small American flag. I was caught unaware and completely forgot that BORAT was a film that Fox was distributing but it was a nearly instantaneous knee-jerk reaction to the reception of the button as I asked whether, at 2:03 p.m., the panel that began at 12:45 and was only supposed to run until 2:15 had made any mention of the man who I’ve come to know through Da Ali G Show. It was the nicest “No” I was going to hear all weekend. Further, it was kismet, and almost felt like everyone was waiting for me to arrive, that when I took my seat the moderator of the studio’s panel started in about Sacha.

The space erupted in cheers as he was introduced to the stage. When he ended up emerging from the ladies bathroom, and not from the hermetically sealed backstage that kept the steerage well away from the talent, in full character, donning his trademark suit, thick moustache and awkward smile, the masses ate up this bread and circus. His exaggerated attempts to take the stage, pratfalls and all, amused those entertained by such a thing but it wasn’t until Sacha gave his thumbs up and introduced two clips from the film that he really had a well-deserved stranglehold on the audience.

The clips contained such outrageous content and triggered an inordinate amount of howls and laughs from those assembled to witness an ample amount of male nudity that when the lights came up it was already a given this was a movie that needed to be seen to be believed. The moderator satiated that need quick enough by declaring that anyone, anyone at all, who wanted to see the movie had to do nothing more than make their way out of the panel, up to the crosswalks of the convention hall’s front door, cross an already congested strip of traffic, make their way over a pair of trolley tracks, wade their way through an already thick sea of humanity moving in the opposite direction, get to Borat’s “ice cream truck” and claim their free pass to see the movie that night.

Without straying into hyperbole it was honestly a Running of the Nerds moment that rivaled anything Pamplona has ever witnessed, or take credit for, in their streets. Geeks made a break for it in every which direction. The smell of a free movie ticket drove some of these socially addled gimps to feats of bravery as they tried to jaywalk or employ any other means to get around the automotive and human traffic that stood in their way of getting into this screening. There was yelling, scurrying, jumping, pushing, evading, sliding and diving, twisting and turning of dozens. It was scary, dangerous to be sure, hilarious to have been able to behold and completely out-of-control.

I was right there with them.

Thanks to whatever exercise plan I’ve been keeping to the past 13 years I was able to best most of the competition that was half my age but here I was, an adult of 31 years, participating in a free-for-all that I should have known better to even try or even cared about.

“Well, if I’m not on a list or formally invited there is no way I’m debasing myself like some chimp,” I should’ve thought.

But I didn’t care. I wanted and got a ticket and I was going to see this film. I am ultimately glad I did and have explained the initial way I came into seeing this movie as I have because I can categorically state that BORAT was, without question, a movie that has finally, after all these years since STRANGE BREW, defined what it takes to keep me laughing for the entire length of a filmic production.

To state it more succinctly, BORAT is one of the best comedies to have been made in the past few years. It is completely offensive in every way possible, it uses race and ethnicity to further humor that no one has ever dared try to get away with in an amusing context and it is completely unique beast that finally can call itself art; there is no way you can look at this film and not feel completely attached to its aims or diabolically opposed to how it executes its vision. Films don’t posses this kind of edge anymore, before edgy became a catch-all for mediocrity disguised a few ribald bon mots here or there, and its charms took me completely and satisfyingly. Sure, you can sit through this movie and not find a single thing worth laughing at on the screen; that’s just the nature of comedy. But, any person who opens themselves up, and gives themselves into, Borat’s world, his donat, can see that this is a movie worth every gypsy dollar when it emerges in November.

What was especially telling about the movie’s potential as a full-length vehicle was evident in that the movie opens just as the trailer did. The mere fact that the trailer was a solid sell to an audience as an amusing ad was an accomplishment but the opening sequences, extended even further, honestly set the tone and pace for the rest of the film. Just as the opening sequences established the crux and flow of the film evem before we were 10 minutes into the movie is a testament to BORAT’s rapid fire storytelling; you get in, establish only what you need to, cut out any extraneous exposition, get on with whatever gag you initially had in mind for the scene, and get the hell out. You could feel the expediency and you are thankful for it.

This film is ambitious because you can sense that this is a movie where you weren’t going to linger in any one place, something that hampers a lot of comedies in modern cinema. In a television show you are not afforded the luxury of meandering or winding your way to a limp punchline. BORAT understands this notion from the word “Go” and doesn’t relent. Perhaps one of the best examples of keeping immediacy with the audience’s attention spans, or lack of one, is when Sacha explains what it is that he enjoys about his village. The visual gags of “disco dancing” represented with a circle of grown men in the daylight hours, outside, and in full dress is still as funny as it was in the trailer. The other activities represented are also just as effective at setting a comedic tone. Nothing, however, could compare anyone to being introduced to an event that’s quite popular with the people he lives with in Kazakhstan: The Running of the Jew. Apart from knowing what’s coming as soon as this event is uttered, a throng of Borat’s countrymen blazing a trail as quickly as possible, what could prepare someone for the visual representation of a grotesquely oversized head, colored green, hideously shapen in a way that looks like a stand-in for the Green Goblin’s next appearance on film, donning stereotypical accoutrements of Borat’s natural born enemies? Nothing. Absolutely nothing and as you’re wiping the tears from your face, the scene pushing things even further with the inclusion of the town’s children doing something so heinous I am almost at a loss to describe it, you’re simultaneously ashamed at yourself for going along with it but you have to congratulate Sacha for executing an idea that he found intrinsically amusing, no matter how some would initially react to it, hoping we would too.

And the audience loved it.

By the third or fourth time when you find yourself reacting to some of the events on the screen getting that, apart from the wafer thin conceit about Borat’s escapades across America to get to Pamela Anderson, one has to give credit to Sacha for being able to carry this one-dimensional character for the entire length of the movie without it ever seeming tedious. Borat’s initial encounters with people who believe they are trying to teach him new and exciting activities to bring back to his homeland works as well here as it did on the television show. When Borat wants to buy a car that is a real “pussy magnet,” as he’s come to hear the idiomatic expression, the salesperson that helps him, or tires to, reveals that small amount of honesty that most people wouldn’t imagine ever revealing in front of a large audience; it’s the ability to get at people’s openness, and to push hard when need be on someone’s sense of decorum, that takes BORAT a level above just being a spin-off from a television show.

The oft discussed rodeo moment, one where Borat does his best to get a crowd on his side completely and then, just as quickly, gets them completely repulsed in a manner of moments is amusing but it’s really the conversation he has with a gentleman beforehand that’s really telling and should have garnerned more attention. When telling Borat of the things he should do in order to blend in with other Americans, commenting that he should shave his black moustache so he doesn’t look like the kind of guy who Americans are fighting in Iraq, was fairly interesting but when this older gentleman lets his unfounded concerns about the amount of explosives Borat could be mistaken for carrying on his person should be decide to keep the facial hair simply confirms what many of us in this country already should know: we’re a nation that’s kind of comfortable with our deep-seeded prejudices and don’t really care sharing them when we think no one’s listening. And just when you think you’ve seen it all you get man on man nude wrestling in a hotel room with Borat getting a tea bagging in the process.

There has been the criticism, by one reviewer, that at times you don’t know what feels like there’s acting and where there feels like there is real interaction between the participants on the screen. I agree wholeheartedly but I also completely disagree. I think that BORAT vibrates the line between what kind of reality the cameras are catching and what is obviously set-up. Yes, of course, it causes some temporal confusion about what’s really what but who really cares when Larry Charles has an excellent eye and rhythm about how long you can allow people to gaze at an image before they start question it’s validity. Did I question whether or not that bear was going to eat the children who came running up to the ice cream truck expecting frozen treats? No (and it’ll make sense later, I promise.). Did I think to myself of what to really make of the accuracy or validity of the big payoff at the end of the film where you can’t believe if Borat is or isn’t doing what you think he is? No (and I swear even harder that it’ll make sense later).

This is a movie driven by expectations and by surprises within the context of what the plot is trying to accomplish. You could put forth the argument that there really isn’t any hard plot here but that’s neither here nor there when you’re watching Sacha work his comedic techniques without anyone being the wiser. Razor sharp when it comes to manipulation and intuition, finding opportunities within seconds and knowing when it’s time to really lay on those he’s squeezing for comedic juice Sacha Baron Cohen, and Borat, is absolutely dangerous. Borat isn’t looking to bring lessons of cultural teachings from America to his home country. I would submit that he’s fine with who he is, is never going to change, and is more than happy to show Americans for who they ultimately are. For better or, for the people who believe that Iraq should be turned into a glass parking lot, worse.

A NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM (2006)

Director: Shawn Levy
Cast: Ben Stiller, Carla Gugino, Robin Williams, Owen Wilson, Paul Rudd, Ricky Gervais, Ernest Borgnine, Mickey Rooney, Dick Van Dyke, Bill Cobbs
Release: December 22, 2006
Synopsis: A bumbling security guard at the Museum of Natural History accidentally lets loose an ancient curse that causes the animals and insects on display to come to life and wreak havoc.

View Trailer:
* Large (Windows Media)

Prognosis: Negative. Take your pick: pre-packaged Adam Sandler or pre-packaged Ben Stiller.

Ben, while I champion his show on Fox on being one of the most egregious firings of all time by a network, has been slipping a little. From the really so-so performance in STARSKY AND HUTCH, to his pretty bad turn in DODGEBALL, to his pretty limp voice work in MADAGASCAR I am still holding out for an acting performance to lift him out of that pit of half-assedness.

I’m not so sure this is it.

As we open on things I am not quite sure if I am coming into a trailer or choir practice as the shot of the Museum of National History where Ben walks into is alive with the sound of two dozen voices lilting away in my ears even before we get word one from Stiller; and, to think of it, it’s not like it’s a very good one as he drops a lead-filled joke regarding a re-creation of Teddy Roosevelt on a horse with him being our 4^th president. 26^th is the right answer but, man, was that supposed to be funny or is Ben playing someone who is infected with slight mental retardation?

Anyway, we come to meet Dick Van Dyke and Mickey Rooney, Hollywood not being able to do a damn thing with regard to trying make these guys look like they don’t already have one foot in the grave with the other one thinking about making the jump. Don’t know why that was the casting decision but, alas, we are taken on the obligatory tour of the museum along with Ben as we take a look at all the things which are no doubt going to come alive at some point in the evening.

I especially like Van Dyke’s warning not to let anything out of the museum. I would think, at that point, a nice conversation should’ve taken place between employer and employee about what kind of freaky action goes down when the sun does. Nope, of course it doesn’t, but no matter. Ben is on the case.

And what a case it is as the first order of business is finding that the T-Rex is noticeably absent from its place in the museum. It’s off getting a drink of water from the fountain. Ben flips out, drops the flashlight he was using to investigate things with, and provokes the dino into a JURASSIC PARK rage.

It’s then when the juice becomes loose and all sorts of wacky and zany things start happening. Not so much with regard to the exhibits coming to life, you already knew that, but the last third of this trailer is exclusively devoted to showing us all the talent that is in this movie. From Owen Wilson to Carla Gugino, Ricky Gervais and Robin Williams this is a star-studded affair that is really geared to selling the families out there who like their Christ laden holidays filled with guest stars, seeing how holiday variety shows have gone the way of the Chesterfield Cigarette Radio Hour.

Myself? A lot of goofiness without a real compelling reason to care about anyone here. This isn’t a trailer looking to sell. This is a trailer looking to get people to buy on the basis on a little flash.

Comments: None