Big Screen Little Screen

You know, I’ve seen enough of Sacha Baron Coen’s The Ali G Show to know exactly what I’d be missing if I excluded myself from this weekend’s festivities, with the film pulling in great numbers (a reported 26.4 million) for a limited release - on about 800 screens. I enjoy Sacha’s antics in short stints, but can’t be bothered to sit though Borat’s 84 minutes. Maybe if I would have felt more compelled to join the hordes if the film hadn’t been rammed down my throat over the past two months.

Not that my tirade last week about the over aggressive marketing of the film was intended to change anyone’s mind, or that I’m foolish enough to believe it would, but I’ll take small comfort in the minuscule contingent of contrarians out there that haven’t been fully bowled over by the Borat effect. Take this article for instance, which documents the less spontaneous side of Coen, who “asked print reporters to submit questions to Borat via e-mail, even went so far as to read from a Teleprompter at his TV press junket ‘interviews’”. Perhaps it’s just a bi-product of the non-stop hard-sell that sapped the improvisational spirit from the comedian.

Former Cinematical editor Karina Longworth (video review below) is also less than enamoured, claiming, “as comedy and social commentary, Borat fails more than it succeeds”. She also points out that most of Borat’s schtick has been worn out over the course of the promotion - “If you’ve seen Borat on Conan or The Today Show, or if you’ve ever been on Myspace or YouTube, or if you like, live in the world, you’ve seen 75 percent of this movie.” But hey, she also says the other 25 percent is worth the price of admission.

Previously: Borat: Let’s get it over with