.: Roberts' Reviews - Movie Reviews :.

Fish-out-of-water comedies are nothing new. Taking a character and placing them in unfamiliar surroundings has created some of the best comedy memories of the past 30 years. Peter Sellers in The Party, Paul Hogan in Crocodile Dundee. Hell, even Spock and Captain Kirk showed off their comedic talents when they went back in time in an effort to save the future in Star Trek IV : The Voyage Home.

The idea is a simple one. Take someone from a backwards or unsophisticated culture and put them in an advanced society where their education about their new environment will lead to uproarious situational comedy.

Herein lies the premise for the new film, Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (for the purposes of saving hours of reading, I will refer to it simply as Borat for the remainder of the review).

Borat is played fearlessly by Sacha Baron Cohen (also known as Ali G) who also wrote the film which takes a documentary approach in following the fictional Borat as he leaves his primitive village in Kazakhstan to discover the wonders of the United States of America.

The first five minutes not only gives us a clear precursor as to how different the two lifestyles will reveal, but it also provides us with the funniest opening five minutes in recent memory. As we get introduced to the various family and friends of the village, we also get a lesson on the make-up of it's peoples. They are people who are proud of their sexual deviances. They are prostitutes. They are rapists. They are racists who take part in a "Running of the Jew" celebration. They are repulsive. But for all their indifferences, they are also hilarious. As Borat waves good-bye and is taken by horse drawn car towards his journey in America, you almost wish he would spend just a few more moments showing us around his home country. Then again, my stomach needed a break from all the laughter that ensued with each new introduction.

As the movie shifts to New York, I thought for sure the laughs would cease in their ever regularity. Luckily however, I was wrong. Borat's first challenge is the airport escalator. It is the only cheap attempt at the solicitation of laughs in the movie. Taking a page from the first Crocodile Dundee movie, it just doesn't seem to fit among the rudeness and ignorance that will be the films mainstay.

To be fair, the scene is only about five seconds in length and soon after, we are back on the laugh track as Borat defecates outside of Trump Tower, washes his underwear in Central Park and masturbates on the street while outside a lingerie show window.

Borat's stay in a fancy hotel has him watching television one evening where he marvels over the beauty that is Pamela Anderson on her once popular (and thankfully cancelled) Baywatch. This hour long viewing will set Borat out on an odyssey towards California where he intends on meeting the famous Playboy pin up and offering her a chance to become his wife.

The adventure starts with the purchase of a vehicle which goes on like a Family Guy skit. The ending is surely expected but as Borat tries out large SUV's and requests upgrades that will include a little something something that will allow him to pick up the chicks, we continue to laugh at his crude innocence.

Scene after scene ensues as Borat tries to learn how to fit in with the American culture. He takes an etiquette class, he learns to drive, he takes a comedy lesson. Each experience is just as funny as the last and the film remarkably never lets up on the humor quotient.

That is until he and his producer find themselves wrestling naked in a hotel room. Arguably the funniest scene in any film this year, Borat and the producer put themselves in provocative positions and chase each other through the hotel halls and lobby in a way that would probably make the guys from Jackass comment on the sheer brashness of the exercise.

Most (if not all) of the participants in Borat are unsuspecting participants. From the Midwest rodeo fans that don't know exactly how to react to the Borat's rendering of his National Anthem to the dinner party hosts that feel embarrassed for Borat when he brings his droppings down to the table in a plastic bag. Each person's reaction is priceless and it is like watching a combination of Candid Camera and some reality program that keeps you glued to the set week after week to see how the characters are progressing.

Borat therefore ends up as not only the funniest film of the year (maybe of the decade) but also as one of the crudest. If you are easily offended by remarks about Jews, Blacks or gays or if you find discussions about incest, rape and the acceptance of prostitution offensive, stay away. But if you are of the make-up that you take out whatever a film dishes out and realize that it is all a good joke, you are in for a fun ride that is well worth the 82 minute time investment.