Borat Sagdiyev’s prankster reputation precedes him. Fourteen years since Sacha Baron Cohen introduced the Kazakhstani mischief maker and his mankini in the massively successful, Oscar-nominated Borat, even the vaguely pop culture-aware can recognize his mustachioed visage, or catch a “Very nice!” reference. So who’s still getting pranked by Borat, or any Cohen character who resembles him at this point? The President’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, that’s who.
In Rudy’s defense, he isn’t fooled by Borat during the jaw-dropping near-climax to sequel Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (★★★★☆). Instead, the former mayor of New York is taken by Cohen in another disguise, and by the actor-comedian’s main accomplice in the film, Bulgarian actress Maria Bakalova, playing Borat’s daughter Tutar pretending to be a Russian reporter. So it doesn’t take a spy agency or foreign government to catch Trump’s consigliere with his hands down his pants inside a hotel room with an attractive Russian he’s never met. Just two committed comedians and a well-prepared crew get the job done, and that’s not even this film’s most audacious stunt.
Borat also crashes a speech by Mike Pence at the Conservative Political Action Conference, while wearing a well-chosen disguise. Directed by Jason Woliner (making his feature debut, after cutting his teeth on TV comedies like What We Do in the Shadows), the film addresses the obstacle of Borat’s fame with humor, ingenuity, and by relying on the rapid-fire talents of Bakalova. She carries much of the bizarre, yet politically astute plot about Borat trying to impress Trump by delivering a gift to “Vice-Pussy-grabber” Pence. A formidable one-two punch, Bakalova and Cohen both can go big or play it straight, depending on the situation, and their comic rhythm develops into a surprisingly sweet father-daughter match as they prank their way across America, from a debutante ball to a Republican Women’s Club meeting.
Borat and Tutar even venture to a March for Our Rights anti-mask rally, stepping right into 2020 existence. The film and its humor reside on a razor-thin line between staged and spontaneous, faked and for-real. It’s eerie when it’s not hilarious, and sometimes it’s both. Borat himself, the naïve and offensive, wild-and-crazy guy in the boxy, gray suit still resides on that line, and Cohen mines new layers of humanity from the character in his fumbling attempts to better understand his daughter. His trusted daughter-raising manual by the Kazakhstan Ministry of Agriculture and Wildlife only gets him so far.
But again, Borat’s too famous to fool all of the people, all of the time, so he’s often buried beneath additional layers of fake hair and padding. His personality is missed. Also missing much of the time is the element of surprise. Borat’s first trip to America, and the decade-and-a-half of cringe comedy since, have primed the audience to anticipate exactly where his pranks are headed.
Yet, somehow unsuspecting innocents, and some who have it coming, are drawn eagerly into embarrassing themselves, or exposing themselves for our entertainment. And even when the movie signals where it’s going — when Borat and Tutar decide to bust out a traditional fertility dance at the deb ball, for example — Cohen and Bakalova make each set-piece count by leaving it all on the floor.
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm is available for streaming on Amazon Prime. Visitwww.amazon.com.
GOP delegates adopted a convention platform ahead of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The new platform, at the behest of former President Donald Trump, walks back some of the previous platform's harsher language on issues like reproductive rights and same-sex marriage.
Trump advisers said they wanted the platform to more closely reflect the former president's stances on various issues.
"This is something hopefully you will pass," Trump reportedly told delegates when he called into a meeting of delegates last week, as reported by The Washington Post. "You will pass it quickly, and we will show unity in our party as opposed to the disaster that is going on with the Democrats.
The "Democrats in disarray" narrative -- a hackneyed, unimaginative crutch for political journalists -- is sometimes revealed as a canard. Remember when Democratic infighting between progressives and moderates was supposed to deny the party a House majority in the 2018 elections?
Other times, the narrative becomes more of a truism -- usually because some ambitious, headline-seeking Democrats breathe life into it by doing their best Chicken Little impression. The current push to force President Joe Biden to exit stage left is one such instance.
The Queer calendar promises us that come late May/early June 2025, World Pride will fill Washington, D.C.'s streets with affirming, magical mirth. This year, the Capital Pride Alliance gave us a great trial run. While a jubilee in its own right, this year's festivities illustrated that World Pride 2025 should be safe, secure, and glorious.
It may, however, also be a righteously angry occasion, as 2025 Washington could be the epicenter of a new, awful age. Barring any seismic shenanigans, either President Joe Biden will hold the White House, or Donald Trump and his bully boys and goon girls will move in. If Hillary Clinton's loss to The Don taught us anything, it is that we live in absurdly uncertain times. (And that the Electoral College should be abolished.)
These are challenging times for news organizations. And yet it’s crucial we stay active and provide vital resources and information to both our local readers and the world. So won’t you please take a moment and consider supporting Metro Weekly with a membership? For as little as $5 a month, you can help ensure Metro Weekly magazine and MetroWeekly.com remain free, viable resources as we provide the best, most diverse, culturally-resonant LGBTQ coverage in both the D.C. region and around the world. Memberships come with exclusive perks and discounts, your own personal digital delivery of each week’s magazine (and an archive), access to our Member's Lounge when it launches this fall, and exclusive members-only items like Metro Weekly Membership Mugs and Tote Bags! Check out all our membership levels here and please join us today!
You must be logged in to post a comment.