Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan Review

Borat caught my fancy. That's hard to do. Fancies are pretty personal.

If you've been living under a rock or off the radar, then Borat - Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan was a hot film a few months back. It's out now on DVD and is one that we (spell that I - as in Mom) bought. This is saying something, since I'm a drive by consumer. I normally suck it up and move on. There's always something new under the sun. It's rare that I invest in mass media. This one - yeah - bought it - watch it from time to time.

The idea here is that Borat visits the U S of A (United States) and attempts to learn about the the culture while sharing the culture of his glorious country - Kazakhstan.

It's all spoof though. The Borat guy is from Britian - the mother ship country. He is ragging hard. He pretends to be from this third world country and has good Americans jumping through all manner of hoops.

There are some cases where the humor gets a tad mean.

Borat visits a southern plantation. Do those exist anymore? I'm from the South. Haven't seen one in action lately. Borat's a bit on the edge in inviting a pseudo prostitute in, but he does make a point that all guests are not created equal in the gentile south.

When he punks the frat boys, it seems rather justice. They trash talk up one side and down the other of the travel camper. If they wouldn't want it printed on the front page of the paper or on a film, they ought not say it or do it. That's some advice my Mom gave me long ago.

Most of the jokes are just poking fun. Some had some fall out. Can't say that I'd feel all that good about that fake fist put on a real person from a poor country or that I'd sleep well at night after punking a TV station and a woman ending up torn to bits and resigning. Hard to believe, though, a little Borat clip was all it took to topple a media personality.

Shortly after this movie, the Borat actor made some crack in the city and got busted in the face by a non-fan. Humor may be safer on air than on the street. The chance you take when you walk the edge.

This is one of my favorite films. I also like frozen pizza, so take that as you will. If I really need a laugh, then I can stick this in and roll on the floor without having to think very deep at all. It's not quite slapstick. I don't go for that. The Three Stooges go over my head or under my radar - depending on your vantage point. Borat - nutty and tongue-in-cheek enough to tickle my fancy.

As far as the kids, hum, this is PG-17 I think. Some nudity including male nudity. Not really sexual. Humor flashes. Some words. Some stuff that will go right over the heads of those under age 21 or so. Your call. I took my mature 16 year old, but I didn't take the 14 year old. That might give a general idea. It really depends on the kid though.