Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (4½ Stars)

I never expected that "Borat" would have a sequel. It was such a perfect film in itself, and its concept made it a one-off. It was all about an actor (Sacha Baron Cohen) making a fool of people by pretending to be a dim-witted foreign journalist. Due to the film's enormous popularity everyone recognises Borat Sagdiyev and knows he's a fake. This problem is solved in the sequel by Borat being in disguise for most of the film. That's an amusing concept in itself; the person in disguise puts on an extra layer of disguise.

The original film was a brilliant blend of candid photography and staged performances with actors. I suspect that the staged performances make up a larger percentage of the sequel. My assumption is that whenever Borat speaks to people without his second layer of disguise, the people are actors. 

Sacha Baron Cohen might be the brains behind the film, but the actress Maria Bakalova, who plays Borat's teenage daughter Tutar, steals the show. She arrives in America just as naive and seemingly unintelligent as her father. I say seemingly, because she shows herself to be increasingly capable as the film progresses.

But what was Rudy Giuliani, former mayor of New York and currently Donald Trump's attorney, doing with his hand in his trousers? He says he was tucking his shirt in, but that's not what it looks like. Why would he lie on his back to tuck his shirt in? The scene needs to be examined carefully. I just think it's a shame that Borat burst into the hotel bedroom so soon. He should have waited a few minutes to see how it would play out.

"Borat Subsequent Moviefilm" isn't quite as good as the original film. The portion of the film that takes place in America (which is 95% of the film) is brilliant, but the scenes that take place in Kazakhstan at the beginning and end are weak.

The film is being shown exclusively on Amazon Prime. I hope that my readers who subscribe to Amazon will watch it.