By Michael Belmont
Gargoyle sports editor
Posted Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2006, The OG,
arts

Sacha Baron Cohen as Borat

IN THIS COUNTRY, teenage boys everywhere are going crazy for British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen's most famous character of the moment, Kazakhstani journalist Borat Sagdiyev. As for the success of Cohen's performance in individual scenes as Borat, the verdict among this demographic group has been overwhelming. Very nice.

But does Cohen's formula — making up ludicrous personalities and using himself as a medium to unleash them upon an unsuspecting public — really work when he must connect these scenes by giving his character an actual purpose and strategy for obtaining it?

Not so much.

If you've been hearing an unusually high number of outrageous statements in funny accents lately, you're a witness to Borat's irresistible appeal to young audiences, especially among males. In the last 10 years, the comedy industry has proven there is a sizable market for material that offers a backlash against the modern culture of pervasive political correctness. From Comedy Central's “South Park” to Fox's “Family Guy,” shows that toy with prejudice in an era where it has been, at least on the surface, antiquated in America have been huge hits with a generation that has little experience with the real thing.

Cohen takes advantage of this by making Borat culturally backward: He is extremely anti-Semitic (Cohen himself is Jewish), sexist, and insensitive to the mentally handicapped, and shows signs of being homophobic and even incestuous.

However, by giving us a glimpse of Borat's home, Cohen manages to make audiences forgive his attitudes and behavior by implying he is a product of his environment. After all, nobody can help the way they're brought up, and for all the average westerner knows, making out with your sister is just a harmless custom in Kazakhstan.

Cohen's caricature of life in a developing country also adds another dimension to his humor, as do the various ways real Americans respond to him. When all of this is taken with Borat's physical awkwardness and difficulty comprehending some of the more subtle Americanisms, Cohen's setup is wickedly hilarious.

The problem is Borat's goal of traveling across the country to hook up with Pamela Anderson. Apart from being markedly less funny than Borat footage usually is, this plotline gives way to one of the instances where the movie goes too far. By pursuing it, Cohen encumbers himself with material that is below his talent level. Why does it take Pamela Anderson to draw Borat out of New York? Why couldn't his documentary simply have been intended to explore America coast to coast to begin with?

Cohen is most effective in narrowly focused episodes, and the filmmakers behind Borat should have recognized this and focused more on Borat's actual encounters with Americans and less on why he's having them.

Nevertheless, Borat does stand out as the funniest character on Cohen's “Da Ali G Show,” and viewers can still have lots of fun with him in Borat if they have the right sense of humor.

Enjoy Cohen while you can because this very well may be the peak of his career. After the release of the movie, Borat will have to be dropped since too many people will be familiar with him to be caught off guard, and it's difficult to imagine Cohen ever coming up with a better character.

“Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan” is now playing at the Savoy 16 (click here for times) and the Beverly Cinema 18 (click here for times). Runtime: 84 minutes. Rated: R.