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TIFF 2006: Midnight Madness: Borat Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
If the creators of Borat knew just how much buzz they’d get from Thursday night’s projector malfunction they’d probably have taken a club to the machine themselves. So here we are 24 hours later and finally through a whole screening of Borat.
We’re telling you now. Don’t go see Borat because a couple of months after this film hits widespread release it’ll insinuate itself into the cultural zeitgeist faster than a Kazakh prostitute (the cleanest in the region, according to Borat) throws you out of bed after you’ve done your business. And once that happens there’ll be no escaping it. Your friends will quote lines, blue-grey suits and bad moustaches will be the rage this Halloween, run down ice cream trucks will be the hipster vehicle of choice.
But if you want to be first among your friends to spout Boranisms or remind each other about the frightening Pentecostals, the drunken frat boys and irate rodeo-goers that populate Borat’s America then go right ahead get in that rush line. Yes, the movie is funny and yes there are some genuinely painfully funny and frightening moments in this film. But after a while even the best jokes get old. In the case of Borat we think that day will come much too quickly. 3.5/5





