A sequel to "Borat" (released in 2006), the title character (played by Sasha Baron Cohen) returns to the USA from Kazakhstan but under a new disguise. This time he is accompanied by his teenage daughter, Tutar (Maria Bakalova). Due to trouble he's having in Kazakhstan, Borat must offer Maria as a bride to US Vice-President Mike Pence. While Borat and Maria are fictional, the Americans shown are real and are successfully duped by the filmmakers into believing the fiction around them is truth.
Humour is personal. Yes, this is stating the obvious but it is a defense in this case as I am on the outside of the popular response for this film which has delighted many. It's not a full loss, though. There is a scene in a doctor's office involving misunderstandings after Tutar has accidentally swallowed a plastic decoration on a dessert. The double-entendres are hilarious in this scene. There are other chuckles as well but too many lines were crossed including trivializing mass shootings in synagogues. Humour is best when it gets as close to the edge as possible but never going over the edge. For most, this film went to the edge and they loved it. For me and a few others, it went over the edge too often.
Another good point in the film is the presence of Jeanise Jones, an Oklahoma resident who is asked to babysit Tutar. One of the many who were duped to perform in the film, Jones has genuine charm and goodness. She is an oasis among the many less appealing people in the film.
While this film takes good aim at the extreme right, there is no attempt to do the same for the extreme left where opportunities would have been endless in the US in 2020. At times, the film seems like an infomercial for the Democrat 2020 Presidential campaign. There are appropriate spaces for infomercials but a movie isn't one of them. Further, the attacks against the extreme right have already been done many times in mainstream American media so these bits in the film seemed redundant.
There's satire and there's bad taste. I miss satire. - dbamateurcriutic.
Humour is personal. Yes, this is stating the obvious but it is a defense in this case as I am on the outside of the popular response for this film which has delighted many. It's not a full loss, though. There is a scene in a doctor's office involving misunderstandings after Tutar has accidentally swallowed a plastic decoration on a dessert. The double-entendres are hilarious in this scene. There are other chuckles as well but too many lines were crossed including trivializing mass shootings in synagogues. Humour is best when it gets as close to the edge as possible but never going over the edge. For most, this film went to the edge and they loved it. For me and a few others, it went over the edge too often.
Another good point in the film is the presence of Jeanise Jones, an Oklahoma resident who is asked to babysit Tutar. One of the many who were duped to perform in the film, Jones has genuine charm and goodness. She is an oasis among the many less appealing people in the film.
While this film takes good aim at the extreme right, there is no attempt to do the same for the extreme left where opportunities would have been endless in the US in 2020. At times, the film seems like an infomercial for the Democrat 2020 Presidential campaign. There are appropriate spaces for infomercials but a movie isn't one of them. Further, the attacks against the extreme right have already been done many times in mainstream American media so these bits in the film seemed redundant.
There's satire and there's bad taste. I miss satire. - dbamateurcriutic.