Borat

I haven't seen a funnier movie than this in a loooooonnnnnngggg time. I had kind
of heard of the character of Borat as a UK sensation, but never seen a complete
work. This movie, documenting Borat's adventures in the US, has to be seen to be
believed. To borrow a line from the promotion of "The Loved One" (1965 and
another great film): "It's the movie with something to offend everyone!" "Borat"
is a film that takes a joke and milks it to its most extreme point and then goes
beyond, but they do it in that far better, far funnier UK, Canadian, Australian
and European way. I don't know why that is. It always seems that when Americans
try for a comedy like this, it comes out as another lousy Will Ferrell, Jim
Carey, or Adam Sandler vehicle, or worse.

We've never been able to comedy like this very well. Even Jerry Lewis in his
prime couldn't touch this kind of comedy and it is a shame. I think its timing.
Larry David actually comes pretty close to this kind of comedy, so there are
possibilities, but in general most American comedy when attempted in this format is to stretch a joke out
beyond all possible recognition and then still milk it until it is no longer
funny. "Borat" never falls into that trap.

Speaking of Larry David, the first time I saw the name Sasha Baron Cohen (Borat)
was in the credits of the latest "Curb Your Enthusiasm" episode. He was one of
the angels near the end of the last program of that season. I won't mention
anything further in case you haven't seen it, but definitely see it. Cohen also
was in Will Ferrell's "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby".

I don't want to give away any of the jokes, so just go and enjoy. Now if you are
not a fan of offensive comedy, I don't know what to tell you. I guess you are
just missing out...

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Regards,

Mark Arnold
http://funideas.home.att.net