Borat Subsequent Moviefilm

Sacha Baron Cohen’s Borat is back in Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.

I know some people don’t like him or his often cringe-worthy comedy, but for my money, Sacha Baron Cohen transcends comedy into another brilliant realm. I’ve been a fan since the early days of Da Ali G Show, where, like today, he used his characters to expose people’s true beliefs. He doesn’t trick people into saying racist things — he gives them enough rope to let their guard down and expose themselves.

We first saw Kazakh journalist Borat Sagdiyev in 2006’s Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. In this sequel, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, otherwise known as Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, he unleashes one of his most popular characters on America once again. Borat and his daughter, Tutar travel to America to offer Tutar as a bride/bribe to Vice President Mike Pence.

The movie is frequently funny and has some great moments, some of which show how terrible people are, but some also show their humanity. Some showcase both in the same scene. However, like the first film, some of the sketches land and some of them don’t, and it all feels loosely sewn together, like Frankenstein, on a story arc about Borat and his daughter. I actually think their story works well, though that doesn’t really change what I just said. It’s just the vehicle that gets you from one set up to the next.

I should slow down and give props to Maria Bakalova, who plays Tutar in the film. She’s simply amazing. She keeps up with Baron Cohen throughout the film and she holds her own in the scenes where she’s messing with people. Baron Cohen obviously had to work around the fact that Borat is a pop culture icon this time around, so it’s hard to fool people. One way around this was to have Borat wear a plethora of disguises, but also to utilize Tutar’s character as a placeholder. This wouldn’t have worked without Bakalova’s talent.

And to throw my two cents in about Rudy Guiliani — I don’t think he was touching himself on the bed; he really does just look like he’s tucking his shirt in after she pulls the mic out. But he was definitely acting like a class A creep. Not only by virtue of the situation he was getting into, but even through how he was touching Bakalova. It was gross. He is gross.

Borat 2, as I guess I’m just going to call it now, was a fun distraction. Was it the comedy of the year? No, probably not. To be frank, Baron Cohen has done much more brilliant work, with better characters than Borat. In fact, it’s probably less shocking in 2020 than it was in 2006, because so many of these people wear their racism or homophobia or anti-semitism, or whatever it is, out in the open now. But that said, it has enough laughs and gotcha moments to give you an hour and a half of solid entertainment.

Tags: borat subsequent moviefilm, movie, review, rudy guiliani creep

About the Author

Craig Silliphant is a D-level celebrity with delusions of grandeur. A writer, critic, creative director, editor, broadcaster, and occasional filmmaker, his thoughts have appeared on radio, television, in print, and on the web. He is a juror on the Polaris Music Prize and the Juno Awards. He loves Saskatoon. He has horrible night terrors and apocalyptic dreams.