March 28 movie: Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. I think this movie suffers from heightened expectations. In other words, no movie could have lived up to the hype surrounding Borat. Luckily I had read a lukewarm review a couple of weeks ago, which diminished my expectations enough that I was able to enjoy it wholeheartedly. I'm probably the last person in America to see this movie (excepting people like Georg who have no intention of seeing it) so there's no need for me to describe the plot. I'll just say that I was surprised, and somewhat relieved, to realize how much of the movie was staged. If I hadn't seen press about angry unwitting participants (like the people at the rodeo and the feminists in New York) I would have thought it was all staged. I certainly hope Pamela Anderson was in on the gag.
One interesting thing about the press surrounding this movie is how differently certain scenes were interpreted by different reviewers. For instance, the New York Times called the scene in the gun shop the most chilling moment in the entire movie. Salon.com's review singles out that very same scene as a heartening example of someone who doesn't rise to the anti-semitic bait. I remember thinking that the gun shop owner must deal with a lot of wackos, if he could take Borat in stride without even blinking.
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