Hi, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab...
And I wasn’t there? That. Fucking. Sucks.
But the next best thing is this review, and I’m so pleased that someone took the time to write in:
Just got back from Marina del Rey and the first audience test screening of Sacha Baron Cohen's "Borat," based on the character of the same name from Cohen's "Da Ali G Show" on HBO. Talk of this project has been kind of flying under the radar for a while, with only snippets of news budding here and there over the past few months. I was beginning to think we'd never see it hit theaters, that it was a thing of myth. Well, I can assure you now that this movie is real. And will become a thing of legend.
While this wasn't the funniest movie I've ever seen, it was definitely, hands down, the hardest I've ever laughed in a theater, if that makes any sense. The experience may have been skewed by the fact that pretty much all 400 or so audience members seemed to be huge Borat fans (as evident by the insane amount of cheering and applause that occurred the second he appeared on screen), but all in all, I honestly can't remember being with an audience who CONSTANTLY laughed - that hard - throughout the entirety of a movie. I remember at one point there being maybe just under a minute or so of silence in the audience and thinking that was almost strange. Before the movie started, a guy stood at the front and told those who had [actually made it in with] cell phones to turn them off, but it wouldn't have mattered either way – you wouldn't have been able to hear a single one. And I know how much of a plant I'm going to sound like with this review, but I don't care. If funny were sunlight & water, then I'm gonna keep on growing.
Imagine a dozen or more Borat HBO skits strung together with scripted plot in between to weave it all together and that's pretty much the gist of the movie. It's hard to say, but I'd guess about 90% of the actual interviews (like the stuff we see on the show) were unscripted, legit situations. But you could definitely tell with some of the camera placement and reactions, that in a few places it was scripted, or at least manipulated somewhat to get the plot points they needed. And again, this was just in the dozen or so HBO-like segments we're used to. The filler in between, which served to move the story forward, was scripted and shot just like any "real" movie. Either way, scripted or unscripted, real or manipulated, it was all pretty damn hilarious.
We start off in Kazakhstan, where Borat takes us on a short tour of his village. We meet his mother, his wife, the town rapist and a couple other characters – and eventually learn that he's been given a grant from his government (or something along those lines, didn't quite catch it) to travel to New York and make a documentary to bring back and help enlighten the people of his country on the American way of life. Once in New York, however, Borat discovers Baywatch on TV late one night in his hotel... and becomes completely infatuated with "C.J.," aka Pamela Anderson. From here on out, the story turns into a cross country journey to California with one goal in mind; for Borat to meet Pamela, take her as his wife, and "have her vagine." And yes, that's the actual plot of the movie. And yes, it actually works. Going in, I was dreading the idea of them doing a somewhat scripted Borat movie (since I noticed screenwriters were listed on IMDB), and it feels a little awkward in the beginning after being so used to show, but after these first few scenes you definitely get used to it.
Finishing his documentary on the road, from Washington, DC all the way down through the south and onto to California, this is where we get the Borat segments we're used to. This is also where I witnessed some of the most outrageous, controversial and disgusting stuff I've ever seen on film (at least from a studio – kudos Fox). They go far above and way beyond anything that's ever been done on the show. In fact, and I'm definitely not going to give it away here, but there's one scene about halfway through – and trust me, you'll know it when you see it – but my roommate and I both agree it was the most unbelievably grotesque, outrageously hilarious sequence either of us had seen in any movie. Ever. I'm dead serious. It's one of those scenes where you absolutely have to look away, yet you absolutely cannot take your eyes off the screen out of sheer disbelief. And it goes on for a good five minutes. Nothing in Brokeback Mountain can prepare you... and that’s all I'll say about that.
Overall, it's a refreshingly different kind of movie and, like I said, this audience was going absolutely nuts for it. At an hour and a half in length, it actually felt a bit long and there's a good 10 minutes or so throughout that I hope they cut, but it looked 99% complete to me. Of course, we got the extremely detailed standard questionnaires at the end, asking us about these very issues, so I guess we'll see how things work out. There was no mention of a targeted release date, so I have no idea when it'll hit theaters either. Hopefully they can find a spot for it this summer, seeing as though Wedding Crashers and 40-Year-Old Virgin, both R comedies, did so good last summer. That's not to say Borat will get an R rating though, seeing as though I honestly think what I saw tonight (and will forever haunt my dreams) may have qualified for NC-17. That being said, Borat definitely isn't for everyone. But as for me... I like.
If you use this, call me Vilo
Man, I love DA ALI G SHOW, and Borat in particular. I’m dying to get a look at this, and also to know how Larry Charles did when he stepped in to finish it after Todd Phillips left the film. It’s great to hear that it’s working, and I’m sure they’ll work to tighten it up even more before we see it in the theater later this year.
"Moriarty" out.
