Anthony's Film Review - Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2020)

Fourteen years later, Borat is still very funny while being offensive, grotesque, and outrageous...

In 2006, Sacha Baron Cohen ignited uproarious laughter as well as fiery controversy with his mockumentary-style comedy film Borat. There are a lot of admirable things about it, including the title character being a backwards-thinking man from an impoverished country, interactions with people who deserve to be humiliated for their bigotry, shock humor, and eye-opening revelations about America's underbelly. Of course, all of this relies on one thing: people not knowing that Borat is a fictional persona rather than a real person. With the success of the Borat movie, Sacha Baron Cohen would eventually state that he would not play Borat again because the joke wouldn't work anymore.

So imagine my surprise when, 14 years later, there is a sequel with Baron Cohen returning to play Kazakh journalist Borat Sagdiyev. Naturally, the question about people recognizing the character came to mind, but then the film's trailer addressed it. In this sequel, titled Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, Borat is recognized by many Americans, so he has to buy a costume to go into disguise. To me, that is a clever way to play Borat again, by having the same character assume a different external appearance. So problem solved. I was also pleased to see that Borat would be accompanied by his 15-year-old daughter Tutar, played by Maria Bakalova. This means we have a sequel that won't simply be a full repeat of the original movie.

With that, let's review Borat Subsequent Moviefilm. It features the same two types of scenes as the 2006 Borat. First, you have the prank interaction scenes, where Borat and/or Tutar acts inappropriately with unsuspecting real-life people to trigger a response that is either a respectful one or, more often, one that reflects the person's inner bigotry. Second, you have the fictional story scenes featuring Borat and Tutar, just to provide a semblance of a story arc that connects all of the prank scene footage. Now let's talk about how those two types of scenes play out differently in Borat Subsequent Moviefilm.

In the 2006 movie, most of the prank interaction scenes have very high shock and cringe value, and only a couple are less offensive yet hysterical. Think of the difference between the naked hotel room fight and the moments with a driving instructor. In contrast, things feel notably different with the 2020 Borat Subsequent Moviefilm. I would say that this movie has more prank scenes on the less offensive side, and the remaining prank scenes on the more offensive side actually have a lower shock and cringe value than the 2006 movie. Part of it may be due to the audience being more acclimated to the outrageous comedy of Borat. Another explanation is that we have already experienced the shock of various real-life events since the election of President Donald Trump. While Borat Subsequent Moviefilm can still be characterized as offensive, grotesque, and outrageous, the way I described Borat in my review of that movie, it is definitely less so.

Let's put it this way. If I were to point out the scenes in this movie that are potentially the most offensive, I would pick out the scene where Borat spends time in the home of Trump-supporting men, as well as the rally of Trump supporters where Borat in disguise sings a misinformation-riddled country song. You would think that this would be scary to watch, especially as Sacha Baron Cohen said in an interview that he felt genuinely fearful for his own life while making this movie. Yet, I found myself just accepting it. For one thing, I've already seen this sort of thing before, with news stories about right wingers falling prey to misinformation. Also, all of the Trump supporters in these scenes, even if they utter wildly false stuff, are just having a good time in their own little worlds, in contrast to what one may see with viral videos of combative Trump supporters.

As for the least offensive prank scenes, I want to talk about two of them. One features Tutar with an African American woman, and the other presents Borat meeting a Jewish woman (yes, a member of a race he hates). Both scenes involve the Sagdiyev family member saying weird things, but the responses from the real-life women not only avoid being wildly inappropriate, but also end up being kind and loving, not just merely respectful. This is something that the 2006 Borat movie barely had, if at all. I thought this was another nice way for this sequel film to be new and refreshing without deviating far from what made the original work so well.

Now let's talk about the fictional story scenes. In the 2006 Borat, the story involved Borat and his producer Azamat driving across America in Borat's quest to meet Pamela Anderson, as well as gathering information on American customs to bring back to Kazakhstan. In this subsequent moviefilm (gee, I'm talking like Borat now), Kazakhstan has become a laughingstock around the world because of the 2006 movie, and Borat is sentenced to forced labor. But one day, he is given a chance for redemption. Borat is ordered to go to America to bribe President Trump with a gift, in hopes that Trump would help Kazakhstan get its glory back. He arrives in America, specifically Texas, to embark on his mission, but later discovers that Tutar has come along as an unexpected stowaway.

All is not lost, though. Borat decides that he could give away his daughter as a gift to the Trump administration. This leads to an adventure involving not only makeovers for Tutar but also some father-daughter moments. Yes, both of them have some very weird cultural beliefs, but I was rather surprised by how touching some of it was, something not seen with the 2006 Borat. But let's not forget that the first purpose of this movie is to be a comedy. The fictional story is definitely funny, especially with the way it connects the prank footage. Overall, the plot of Borat Subsequent Moviefilm is both funny and, at times, strangely heartwarming.

So as you can see, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm in 2020 is not an exact repeat of Borat in 2006. It takes the core formula and modifies it enough to make it refreshingly original. The result is a movie that is very funny whether we're watching the story of Borat and his daughter or seeing real-life people react to those two strange people. I think the best way to sum it up is for me to mention one of my favorite scenes in this movie. It's the one where Borat and Tutar visit a pregnancy clinic, and the doctor is very reluctant to perform an abortion. This scene is partly featured in the trailer, but to get the best laugh, you have to watch this scene in the movie, because the context of the preceding fictional story scene will make the dialogue in the clinic scene a whole lot more hysterical.

Lastly, let me quickly comment on the one scene that has generated much discussion even before the film was officially released for streaming on Amazon Prime. It's the scene where Tutar posing as a reporter meets Rudy Giuliani. The scene proceeds with the two of them in a hotel bedroom, and Giuliani is lying on the bed on his back. At one specific point, Giuliani has his hand down his pants. The question so many are discussing is whether Giuliani is masturbating or, as Giuliani would claim, tucking in his shirt. Believe it or not, my first reaction after seeing the scene in the film was that I couldn't tell, because there was plenty happening within a short time. I'll just leave it by saying that you can watch the scene and decide for yourself.

Anyway, that's my review of Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. This 2020 film is less offensive, grotesque, and outrageous than Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan in 2006, but still very funny in its own way. It features two funny actors playing two silly characters, mixed with various real-life Americans who show us our worst side as well as our best side. Oh, and the final scene before the credits roll is, to me, a perfect joke about where America is at in the year 2020. With that, Sacha Baron Cohen has delivered another enjoyable comedy, with great success as Borat would say. Very nice!

Anthony's Rating:

For more information about Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, visit the Internet Movie Database.

In addition, check out my review of Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.