Movie Info
Movie Name: Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
Studio: Four by Two Films
Genre(s): Comedy
Release Date(s): October 23, 2020
MPAA Rating: R
For someone who believes in Christianity and forgiving, Mike Pence looks like he could kill Cohen in this scene…
On his last trip to America, Borat (Sacha Baron Cohen) ruined the good name of Kazakhstan. Now with the powerful McDonald Trump in power, Borat has the opportunity impress the great leader with a gift to Michael Pence. When his daughter Tutar Sagdiyev (Maria Bakalova) stows away, Borat must update his plans and regain his lost respect…but is there something else at play?
Directed by Jason Woliner, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (or the longer title of Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan…or simply Borat 2) is a scripted and unscripted comedy. A sequel to the 2006 movie Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, the film was released to Amazon Prime for streaming on October 22, 2020. The film received Academy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actress (Bakalova) and Best Adapted Screenplay and Razzie nominations for Worst Actor (Rudy Giuliani) and Worst Screen Combo (Rudy Giuliani and Maria Bakalova).
This scene feels fake, but the location and the man in it are real…soooo?
Borat was a cringe-worthy movie. I didn’t believe a lot of was “real”, but at the time, Sacha Baron Cohen wasn’t completely a household name. He did have anonymity and the style of filmmaking was less prevalent. In 2020, this isn’t the case. Borat 2 must be a different beast.
The movie still feels largely staged and bolstered with actors. What is real and what is fake isn’t really revealed like the first movie, but the reactions from people don’t seem very legitimate throughout. I do know aspects of the film are real, but the blurring of reality and fiction make more of the film a question. Cohen has stated that he “broke character” with the two Jewish women when he spoke to them to alleviate their concerns, but that admission came after he was challenged by the family of one of the women (Judith Dim Evans) who passed since the filming. If he admits to breaking character with her, it is assumed that he broke character with other people in the set-up and telling of the story.
Regardless what was going to happen next, Rudy sure jumped up quickly when he heard Borat come back…
Scenes like the Pence rally and Giuliani scene however are for the most part real and entirely tension raising. Was Giuliani going to have her right there on the bed? Probably not, but his level of flirting was inappropriate regardless if she was flirting with him…which is the general joke of the film regarding women’s rights and its reflection on America. If he had done something, she would have been “asking for it” by inviting him into the bedroom and flirting. It is still largely put upon the woman with men being the “tricked” ones.
I will say that the best addition to this film was Maria Bakalova who plays Borat’s daughter. She’s likable and seems to be having a lot of fun with the character. Unlike Borat, she can move into areas that he cannot enter, but even scenes like the Republican women largely feel fake due simply to the large amount of cover shots. It is funny, but it doesn’t feel real. Despite this, her character and Cohen’s character really do have some nice moments throughout the film which actually become a bit touching (in a Borat sort of way).
The battle between Karen and Fauci rages on as the fight to stop COVID-19 continues!
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm is an entertaining comedy with some decent laughs. The movie follows in the previous film’s footsteps by really raising questions about “what is real” in regards to acted and natural footage, but it also delivers with more story with a clever tie to COVID-19 (you have to love The Usual Suspects nod at the end). I do think it would be interesting to see something like a Borat Subsequent Moviefilm Behind the Scenes Movie for Kazakhstan which could explore how the film was made…and still make a joke out of it. I know I’d watch it.
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