As soon as those 'dirty, sister-loving Kazakhs' got their hands on this film, the shit started flying. In this case, the proverbial slingers were Cohen, Kazakhstan and, more recently, the U.S. and A.

I was lucky enough to catch an early screening of 'Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan', courtesy of my good friend, Cedar, who won the tickets in a haiku writing competition that was organised by his stand-up comedian co-worker. The deeper origin of these tickets turned out to be a Nova 106.9 promotion, as we found out upon arrival to the cinema.

Nova billboards sat below the screen, a sole microphone stand leered ominously in front of us, signifying the upcoming, obligatory radio plug.

A short spiel was made by some radio DJ whose name I have scrubbed from my brain. During it, a temporary flicker of respect alighted within me when the name-less DJ suggested that we further our research of Kazakhstan due to the movie's inaccurate portrayal of the country.

This glimmer was quickly extinguished when the DJ was unable to answer her own audience pop-quiz question, "where is Kazakhstan?" my geography is useless, I had no idea either

The movie begins in Kazakhstan, where the offending cultural representations are made. I wince as I see the innocent faces of the Kazakhs. Smiling, unaware of the ridiculous aspersions being cast.

Through all this wincing, I can't help but laugh at Borat. This resulted in a very odd facial expression not unlike one of extreme constipation.

If the length title didn't give it away, the Borat heads to America. New York city to be precise (might I add a personal claim here: I sat right in the spot where Sacha stands in central park). A road trip inevitably eventuates and Borat exposes stupidity and ignorance in various States as he makes his way to the West coast.

While the plot is reasonably thin, I was still pleasantly surprised to learn that one existed, contexualising the antics, yet not making too much of itself either. The wacky and sometimes painful sketches are wrapped up very quickly with equal absurdity, adding to the film's mocking theme.

Initially (or so I recall), the people of Kazakhstan weren't too happy about the portrayal of their country's culture. Whilst the taken offense is understandable, it isn't the Kazahks who Cohen is poking fun at. This appears to have clicked for all parties, as a Kazakh journalist is now nominating Sacha Baron Cohen for an Art Patron award, while American college students are allegedly weighing up their case for a law-suit.

The intelligent might put up with the film for its irony and mockings, while those of a broader demographic will enjoy it for the unique characters, embarrassing interviews, and its ability to make Americans look stupid.

The mix of mockumentary wit and demeaning slapstick average out to make this movie not too bad at all. Three stars.

Kieran

I thought I'll go see Borat, it was funny on MTV (err...downloaded). While it was pretty funny, it seemed too forced. The MTV versions and even the earlier days of BBC were a lot more natural. Cohen's humour can become awkward in large doses. I'd give it 7 out of 10 since the movie did what it set out to do. Less fully nude male fighting would have been good too.