Follow-up film to the 2006 comedy centering on the real-life adventures of a fictional Kazakh television journalist named Borat.
When news of a new “Borat” movie surfaced, I could barely contain my excitement. Arguably the funniest — not to mention the most incendiary — of the prodigiously talented Sacha Baron Cohen’s numerous caricatures/characters, Borat cunningly emphasized this country’s penchant for violence, prejudice, complete lack of geographical or cultural awareness, and general imbecility. Larry Charles’s 2006 “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan” was unapologetic, ruthlessly revealing how little the country has actually progressed since the turn of the century. 2020 couldn’t be a more perfect year for Borat, the hapless Kazakhstani journalist, to return to the screens.
Therefore, it’s disheartening for me to report that Jason Woliner’s sequel, “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm,” while certainly containing its share of laugh-out-loud moments (largely thanks to Cohen’s inherent charm and wit), pales in comparison to the original’s utterly relentless, scathing sarcasm. It’s as if, in our #PoliticallyCorrectEra, even our biggest provocateur were afraid to go all out, to truly offend, without apologizing or resorting to gimmicks.
This time around, after getting his injection of gypsy tears, Borat embarks to “Yankee Land” to gift a monkey (who’s a prominent political figure in his country) to Mike Pence. Only instead of the monkey, he discovers his uber-provincial daughter Sandra Jessica Parker Sagdiyev (newcomer Irina Novak) in the shipment container, along with a pile of simian bones. Appalled at first, upon his discovery of Pence’s sexual exploits, Borat decides to give Sandra as a gift to Pence instead. Hilarity ensues.
The second time around, the shtick just doesn’t feel as fresh, the staleness further emphasized by the fact that literally EVERYone who doesn’t live under a rock recognizes Borat in his original garb — the stale grey suit, the moustache, the unruly hair — prompting the actor to don other, more obscure outfits. With the change of clothes, some of his personality dissipates (in some instances, even Cohen’s posh British accent is evident). Some of the jokes feel repetitive, rehashes from the original. Perhaps this lack of novelty can be attributed to the somewhat inexperienced director (Woliner is primarily known for his work on TV series “The Last Man on Earth”), or the slew of screenwriters. The slap-dash editing and lack of coherent narrative momentum is further evidence of a mish-mash of ideas and concepts at the writing stage.
Speaking of “stage,” it’s difficult to tell what was staged and what wasn’t. With the original film, we just went with the notion that no one was “in on it.” Here, as it turns out, some folks are — for example, Borat’s personality was apparently revealed to Holocaust survivor Judith Dim Evans (the woman has since passed away, bless her soul), who appears in one of the film’s most moving scenes. Does it take away from the poignancy of the scene? Perhaps only in the sense that what initially seemed impromptu, unexpected and heartbreaking turns out to have been premeditated and therefore, yes, manipulative. Evans’ reaction to Borat’s ridiculous outfit would have certainly been slightly different had she not known he was coming, but then his “prank” may have turned out to be insensitive (which raises the question: should he have done this one at all?).
In another instance — the film’s controversial highlight — Sandra interviews Rudy Giuliani, only for their conversation to be interrupted by Cohen dressed in transgender attire, and then… well, let’s just say that coaxing sex is involved. Not only does the forced sequence leave an icky aftertaste, it doesn’t feel like it accomplished what it needed to accomplish. What does it prove, exactly? That old, privileged white men in power are susceptible to being coaxed? Same goes to Cohen streaking through a Republican convention in KKK garb, or wearing a Donald Trump fat suit to a Mike Pence rally. This half-assed shtick feels more “Jackass” than “Borat.”
Of course, this being Cohen, certain bits are bound to make you burst out in either laughter or disbelief — or both. He refers to Kanye as “Kenneth West.” Sandra’s extreme makeover involves meeting a famous influencer who calls herself a “sugar baby.” Sandra’s babysitter offers some resonant pearls of wisdom, along with a few priceless reactions to Sandra’s eccentricities. My favorite bit must be the one involving Borat living with a couple of conspiracy theorists — something Cohen did in full character for almost a week! — and then singing inflammatory songs at a Republican rally. Again, a retread of the original — and nothing comes close to that “hunting with hicks” sequence – but rib-tickling nonetheless.
Consisting of a series of barely-interconnected sketches that take cheap shots at injustices that are already so obvious and prevalent they mock themselves, this “Subsequent Moviefilm” proves that 2020 couldn’t be a less perfect year for Borat, against all expectations. Sure, you’ll chuckle and groan. But you can turn on the news for that.
Available to stream on Amazon Prime Video Friday, October 23rd
