Borat , funny or not ?

I know this is a film but i'm asking a general opinion on the character
Do you find him funny or just cringy?

As for myself (a bit of both really)
Wanting to have a giggle I seen the movie tonight after me thinking for a long while that he's not funny but my curiosity getting the better of me!

My bloke wanted to bring me again on wednesday as he hasn't seen it and I said no way as while I found it funny to a certain extent, I wouldn't sit through it again and I told him to go with his mates

I didn't find Ali G funny and Borat is 50:50 in my eyes
So what do you think of the character ?

Thrill

I saw him do an interview on the daily show on youtube and i cringed. He was acting as his borat character. Had to switch away about half way through. I haven't seen the film though and this has put me right off.

Pyr0

It was a waste of 9 euro and I'd never go see it, or even rent it again. I laughed once during the whole thing, and for a "comedy" thats bad.

Basq

Occasionally very funny but occasionally crap as well.. i mean we know where his quips / stories will inevitably lead.. either about prostitution, his family, racism, sexism or a mixture of these elements.

But in saying this, i do like Borat's stuff but don't find it as hilarious as some people do.

And like the Ali G interviews, the participant's reactions are sometimes funnier than the character himself!

PS - this doesn't belong in AH though!

Ruu_Old

Moved to Films. I haven't had a chance to see the film yet. I seen him on Jay Leno the other night though and he was acting out his character, didn't think much of it at all. More of oh..heh *cough*, thats it. Ali G was pure sheet imo.

Redrocket

the reactions of people who think he is genuinely from a backward country and who cringe at their apparent way of life over there were the best jokes and laughs,
things like the naked fight with the fatman (was funny for a bit), and the knocking of the antiques in the store were plain old stupid

the film had its moments but the "im from a backward country" humour got played out pretty quick

biko

Ali - yes
Borat - not so much

mukki

it is funny but...

it would make a few good youtube clips, not a bloody €9 film or even a €5 dvd rental

Kold

I think he's a hilarious character, much funnier than any of that Little Britain ****e. The movie was side-splittingly funny too, the fight scene was worth the price of admission alone. Whilst he had some funny responses in the series, some of what those yanks were saying was completely shocking and I think that's the main point of the movie really.

Don't really like how much he's milking it at the moment though, I would've placed this movie as a 'cult favourite' if it hadn't smashed the box office like it has. Also, heard so many interviews where he's said the same thing "Gays no longer wear blue hats, age of consent risen to 8, etc".

DS

Bruno is Cohen's best character by a mile.

BreadBoard

Hilarious film !!!

I loved it...

Adam

Well working in a cinema, I've yet to hear of someone coming out saying it was shite, so most of you would be in the minority it seems! As for myself, I never particularly enjoyed Ali G, and don't feel compelled to see Borat(not even for free...).

DublinEvents

His trademark is offensive humour and since I hate that, I would have him hanged, or at least force him to stop saying offensive things. He can be funny if he tries a bit hard. The way he looks is perfect for a comedian. But instead of working on his jokes, he takes the easy way out and just starts spewing crap out of his mouth, which seriously isn't any big accomplishment. Anyone can do that. Just try it alone sometimes. You will say things that will even shock you.

gucci

went to see it sat nite,cinema was packed with people laughing, so from that point of view it must be funny...i enjoyed it although i wasnt overly impressed, but i went to movie expecting it to be dung. have to say i prefered ali g "character" but the ali g movie was 10 times worse than this offering.
in short i enjoyed it but i dont think il ever watch it again!!

Kingsize

gucci wrote:

went to see it sat nite,cinema was packed with people laughing, so from that point of view it must be funny

So saving private ryan was a comedy & i just didn't get the joke????.
one of the most annoying things about the cinema experience is the idiots who go there & laugh at **** that isn't even meant to be funny.(having said that i had to hold back the laughter watching kenneth Brannagh in Frankenstein)

Personally i can take or leave Borat I just think what he (cohen) does is easy & dare i say it "so 90's".
But from his point of view what else was left? more Ali G?
I find Bruno funny but mainly because he seems to interview vacuuous self obsessed fashion types
Kazahkstan - easy target & i cant help thinking that the reason for the movie's fantastic success in the U.S. is based on the old American obsession with laughing at "Communists".

I look forward to seeing this movie on TV xmas 2007 but I aint going to see it in the cinema.

TerrorFirmer

It's very funny.

Not quite as amazing as the hype would have you believe but I suppose that's always the case. Generally speaking I would have to say thought it was a very funny movie and you'd be hard pressed not to even smile at even the more absurd and less funny moments.

Ho-Hum

Borat is very funny when the people he is talking to aren't in on the joke, as someone mentioned above he can really make you cringe when he is being interviewed by someone like John Stewart etc.

L31mr0d

I actually found the people he talked to more offensive than the stuff he came out with. It had its moments, but it wasn't worth a trip to the cinema imo, Jackass this weekend, now thats another story

Highlights where the antique store skit (excellently executed "you wouldn't of believed me if i'd told you") and the interviews, which i'd wished would of gone on longer, but the rest seemed like it was rehashed. It shouldn't of had a plot imo, it should of just been a long version of TV show, just a load of skits loosely threaded together, the baywatch plot ruined it for me. Like was said there is probably 10 minutes of laugh out loud footage so youtube is your best bet.

Savman

Borat uses a higher level of humour than you folks give him credit for. He uses the cring-inducing moments as part of a bigger prank and most of Cohen's wit I find extremely intelligent. If you think it's just some dude in costume saying stoopid things then you are probably the poor fool everyone else is laughing at.:o

Makes it all the more funnier imo. Think Borat will age well, like Peter Griffin, Homer or Cartman...

Ghost Train

I don't really like ali g but found borat to be a funny film. Some of it is very funny some of it is pretty bad too. You can tell a lot about a person, by the way they react to Borats pranks in the film, and some of the americans in the film come across very badly, but it's pretty much there own fault.

watever

I thought it was hilarious but wit all the hype its getting I'm sure people are gonna go and be disapointed. Plus some of the jokes have already been done in the tv show which I only found out after watching borat clips from da ali g show on youtube.

DS

Anyone doubting the intelligence of Cohen's humour should have a look at the 2 seasons of Ali G in da USA.

Fanny Cradock

One word: very funny

Anywho, I went to see this film as part of a date - not the first date mind. NEVER go to the cinema on a first date. I noticed through the tears welling in my eyes that my lady friend giggled demurely at some of the more hilarious moments. I, however, was quite literally falling off my seat gasping for breath in between my booming laughter. I remember looking around at one stage to see if the rest of the theatre was looking at me. "Get a hold of yourself, man" I thought to myself. "She'll think mentally unbalanced". For the sake of appearing 'cool' to my date, I attempted to gain some semblance of control - but my hard fought composure was undone by the naked wrestling gag.

Throughout the film the group of girls sitting to my left remained stony faced, ominously silent and completely unamused. It's not a film for everyone then. But what film is? Admittedly there were some lame moments such as the antique shop gag, and of course he cracks the same jokes in countless interviews. However, unlike other 'comidies' that I've paid to see (Anchorman for example), this film made me laugh. Then again, I love my puerile humour.

Da Bounca

The film was hilarious.
Something wrong with you if you didn't think it was funny.

Kold

The movie is ripping the **** out of American ignorance, not out of Jews or Kazakhstan. People who find him offensive clearly don't have much of a grasp on humour.

J.R.HARTLEY

Da Bounca wrote:

Something wrong with you if you didn't think it was funny.

it's called diversity and it's what makes life interesting

i thought it was about a B grade movie,by that i mean scores 8/8.5 out of 10, it's dragging in parts and one or two unfunny moments kept it from a perfect score for me, but it was a funny as hell 80 odd minutes.i haven't cringed so much in years.

Tar.Aldarion

It was very funny. His three characters are great. Excellent skill invlved.

jarvis1

Didn't like the film and wouldn't recommend it to anyone else.The first ten minutes is bad enough running down a backward village and it doesn't improve from thereon.The film made me uncomfortable as whatever was the worst act or quote imaginable from Borat was exactly what he came out with next.As someone else said the antique shop scene was the funniest(difficult to engineer)
I do like his characters in general but not the way they were used in this film

Peter Collins

Pyr0 wrote:

It was a waste of 9 euro and I'd never go see it, or even rent it again. I laughed once during the whole thing, and for a "comedy" thats bad.

The demon has left you retard or have history of retardation.

Hey Vilo - I think we find you retard wife!

Galvasean

Alot of people are missing the point. Borat doesn't just spew random gibberish for no reason. it's clearly to try get a reaction from the ignorant people he encounters (hence why practically everyone in the film is suing him). The fact is Kazakhstan is nowhere near as poor or backward as he makes it out to be (in reality it isn't at all). It's the people who believe him that are really funny. For example a news TV station let him onto their show without checking his background and he proceeded to make a mockery of them (The producer who let him on was fired over it and rightly so. She should have done her research).
Don't forget all those people who though the Kazakhstan national anthem actually said "All other countries are run by little girls". And then there was that guy who agreed (on camera!) that gay people should be executed.

See? Borat exploits the ignorance of others for our amusement.

yabadabado

its hilarious

qwertplaywert

hes a kinda funny character, but not laugh out loud funny
personally, i think its cohens protrayal that makes it a fantasic movie

Enda89

I didn't really find the Borat movie funny.

I watched the Ali G show religiously a few years back and the jokes in the movies are basically just recycled from the series.

The whole dinner he had with the posh people he's done at least twice before with almost word for word the same jokes. That's just one example, there's a good few more.

So yeah, when I saw the movie I was pretty dissapointed. It was like hearing a joke for the 10th time, I didn't really laugh.

For someone who had never seen Borat before [i.e. Americans], I think they would find a lot more comedic value than I did

evad_lhorg

yes "it's nice" but as was said above, most of it has been done by him before and lots of the film seems blatantly staged which disappointed me. but I was still laughingmy ass off

quickbeam

The film was funny-ish, but on the whole, I'd say that once you've seen the trailer you've seen most of the best bits.

Sandwich

A few laughs but disappointing. Touch of shooting-fish-in-a-barrel feeling about his exploitation of the average american's gullibility and 'niceness', but he seemed to rely on that alone for most of his attempts for laughs. The mythical backwards Kazakhstan was his best stuff.

One of his half-hour Ali G shows was far better.

shane86

Internet rule number 1: hate whats popular

Borat was brilliant. The only bad points were that the odd joke was recycled from the UK show of 6 years ago. And that, because I saw it 2 weeks after it came out, some of the jokes were slightly spoled by hearing gob****es on the bus talk about it scene by scene.

Savman wrote:

Makes it all the more funnier imo. Think Borat will age well, like Peter Griffin, Homer or Cartman...

Peter Griffin is the most hateful tard any comedy ever produced.

Deliverance

Galvasean wrote:

Alot of people are missing the point. Borat doesn't just spew random gibberish for no reason. it's clearly to try get a reaction from the ignorant people he encounters (hence why practically everyone in the film is suing him). The fact is Kazakhstan is nowhere near as poor or backward as he makes it out to be (in reality it isn't at all). It's the people who believe him that are really funny. For example a news TV station let him onto their show without checking his background and he proceeded to make a mockery of them (The producer who let him on was fired over it and rightly so. She should have done her research).
Don't forget all those people who though the Kazakhstan national anthem actually said "All other countries are run by little girls". And then there was that guy who agreed (on camera!) that gay people should be executed.

See? Borat exploits the ignorance of others for our amusement.

Totally agree with you there, after all his comedy exposes ignorances which are wrong and exposes ignorants at the same time which is what comedy is about at the end of the day. The funniest moment in Borat for me was

The bears head in the fridge.