Borat
20th Century Fox

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Kazakh news correspondent Borat Sagdiyev (Sacha Baron Cohen) goes on the road to discover the real America. His resulting documentary travelogue is painfully funny ambush journalism with some Jackass-like gross-out stunts thrown in for added entertainment value. At the beginning, Borat bids farewell to his village, leaving behind such quaint customs as the annual Running of the Jews festival, and -- armed only with a vial of gypsy tears (to protect him from AIDS), a suitcase full of chickens and a litany of malapropisms -- descends on the more civilized culture of "the U. S. and A." Borat tackles New York City before heading across the country in search of American icon Pamela Anderson.

But he can't really wrap his head around American social behavior. He masturbates in front of provocative department store windows and asks a car salesman to sell him an actual "pussy magnet." But these gags are not specifically xenophobic; Borat busts on lurking American prejudices as much as it mocks supposed attitudes of the former Soviet Republic. When Borat gets real-life American subjects to express themselves thinking they're with a kindred spirit -- e.g. three women-bashing Southern frat boys wax nostalgic for the days of slavery; a rodeo organizer makes homophobic slurs -- we feel a righteous kind of discomfort. But when Borat makes decent folks uncomfortable -- as when he brings an African-American prostitute to a genteel Southern dinner party, or has a panic attack in a bed & breakfast run by Jews, your soul feels a little sick. Still, push through this feeling. It might burn a small hole in your soul, but Borat is knot-in-your stomach, cross-your-legs-to-keep-from-peeing funny.

The DVD's navigation screens resemble Cold War-era Eastern European 16-mm propaganda films -- dull, overexposed and scratchy. "Surplus Material" includes six full deleted scenes, listed as "Footages Remove From Moviefilm by Decree Kazakh Ministry of Censorship." The most memorable of these are Borat's session with a masseur, and two no-nonsense traffic stops by the authorities, once by the police in Texas and once by the Secret Service in front of the White House. Also included among the extras is a local Virginia TV affiliate's coverage of Borat's infamous pro-war speech at the Salem rodeo, a scary testament to the lazy inefficacy of American news media.

A one-minute preview for a Kazakh incarnation of Baywatch, called "Sexydrownwatch," provides Borat and his crew the opportunity for their own skimpy interpretations of Pamela Anderson's signature "red water panties." Promotional materials, bundled under the "Propaganda" button, include a 16-minute reel covering Borat's journey from the Cannes Film Festival and Comic-Con to Saturday Night Live and The Tonight Show (in which fellow guest Martha Stewart demonstrates her unflappable resolve). As for the feature, you can watch the moviefilm in Borat's original fractured English, but alternative dubbed language options include English, French, Spanish, Russian and Hebrew (but don't click on "Hebrew." It's a trap!).

by By Rob. Walton