Good Lord - "Borat's" appearance on the Letterman show was so unfunny that if Fox is looking for a way to tank the BORAT film - send the actor out on promo runs like this...(although the clip from the movie - where Borat is learning to drive - induced some chuckles - but probably not worth the price of a ticket).

I love Borat on DA ALI G SHOW but find his live public apperances grating. I attribute it mainly to the fact that on the show they are able to cull the best moments whereas live it could take a while (or never).

I just listened to Borat's appearance on The Howard Stern Show on Sirius and found it amazingly unfunny as well.

While I was in Best Buy yesterday, I noticed the soundtrack to the Borat film was out and they designed it to look like a badly printed color zerox bootleg disc, which I DID think was funny.

Yeah, me too.

I think it's a little wrong-headed to do that kind of press (Letterman, Stern) in character. It's not as if the demographics of these shows are going to be "fooled" by the guy (especially when the shows make a point of preparing the audience with the fact that they're "in character")... so what's the point?

If he shows up on Charlie Rose or Fresh Air in character, I'll have to boycott the movie.

The SNL opening skit with Borat this past Saturday was only marginally amusing and was not a very strong selling point either. I think this character just had limited appeal from I have seen so far.

Isn't the concept that people Borat encounters don't know he's a fake?

Isn't that the joke? But as viewers we all know he's a fake (an actor)...

Why are they trying to pass this character off as "real" in promotional interviews? I was kind of surprised Stern didn't just break through the fakery - what does Stern and Sirius care about promoting this thing?

I mean, when Borat is booked on a show, do his "handlers" (or he himself) stipulate - "You must interview Borat as Borat!!!"

This has to be the worst promotional concept of a movie I've ever seen.

Armond White absolutely loathes the film, labelling it anti-American and yet another example of media-centric liberals and cultural elites deviously confirming and mocking their stereotypes of red-state Americans. From the review: Borat "rises from the pits like sewer gas to pollute the movie landscape."

Now I MUST see it.

Me, too. Anything that gets Armond White bloviating about anti-Americanism is probably worth a look, even other factors aside. Is he proposing that the filmmakers bribed the interview dupes to act like goons? Or that they're CGI, or something?

I've seen some Ali G/Borat stuff (I recently watched "The Best of Borat" special on youtube; and have seen a few bits on TV before)... I could easily believe that the interviewees are sometimes, if not always, in on the gag. In fact, I'd say for sure that they at least know they're part of a comedy show, and the guy's schtick is meant for laughs.

No matter how bad a p.a. by an in-character Borat (and by all accounts they are extremely bad), they are intended to at least introduce the invented man to those who have never heard of Borat (let alone never needing to know who is Sacha Baron Cohen).
Unfortunately the man/the actor is no Groucho able to ad lib good material, nor a Bob Hope with a zillion gag writers and the ability to repeat them. He has about three 'repeat' gags which are usually slipped in, and the only time I have seen 'live' Borat light up was when he noticed how short a particular female reporter was and the interplay actually worked - as good as the edited TV show (which I greatly enjoyed) and hopefully the movie (which I want to se on DVD).

It disturbs me that this Arnold White guy thinks the country is in Europe.

Michael C.

I didn't catch his SNL appearance, but I thought the Letterman bit was gangbusters.

"Her ______ hang like Wizard's sleeve"

Am I the only person here who nearly collapsed into a fit of apoplexy after he said that?

I didn't see the Letterman appearance, but I did catch him on Late Night with Conan O'Brien (or "Conans" as he referred to him). Most of the interview was lame, I agree; most of the 'joke' is subsumed by a scattered characterization of bad English grammar and intentionally sexist/racist naivete. However, when he started talking about pubis, I couldn't believe NBC pre-allowed this as a topic!
He asked "Conans" point blank if his 'it' was red 'down there' too, and O'Brien actually answered yes. THIS was funny: Not Borat, but having the host of a major network talk show have his 'interview'/marketing promotion turned on him.....
When Borat pulled out some scissors from his pocket and asked "Conans" if he could have some of his "red pubis" (which is apparently VERY valuable, because of its color), and proceeded to chase and tackle him to the ground before commercial, I was amused.
Only slightly, though, since it was obviously pre-arranged as a performance (Conan O'Brien is not a very good actor).

I immediately thought: Where's Andy Kaufman when you need him???

BORAT has gotten 4-star reviews in both the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times...:wacko:

Chicago Trib review of BORAT

Sun-Times review of BORAT

I caught this with three friends this afternoon and we all agreed it was the funniest thing we've seen all year.

There's one sequence in particular, maybe 2/3 or so into the film (a fight scene unlike any you've ever seen, and that's all I'm saying), where I was laughing so hard that it actually felt like I was about to lose consciousness. I don't know if I should be concerned about that or not.

Can't wait for the DVD, where I'm anticipating the inevitable Baron Cohen-as-Borat commentary.

Letterman's a tough gig for such a situation. I remember other attempts to have Letterman interview people "in character" and it seemed to cause Letterman physical pain to have to play along with such attempts (including people like Julie Brown and Max Headroom). I can only really think of three "in character" personalities that clicked with Letterman: Pee Wee Herman, Brother Theodore and Beavis & Butthead.

Saw the movie today with my wife, btw. She had never heard of Borat, wanted to go after seeing the ad, and laughed throughout. I knew of the character for quite a while and, on the other hand, have to admit that I got tired of it about halfway through (right around where the social dinner club meeting occurred). Let me state, though, that I'm not a big fan of this type of ambush humor, even when certain victims need their pomposity popped. When watching the film, all I saw were people being ridiculed for being dumb enough to be friendly and/or trying to help out. It just makes me sad.

Saying that, I did find the driving instructor scene somewhat fun, mainly because it was so obvious that the instructor was in on the joke and was willing to play along. It was also obvious that the bed & breakfast couple and the final victim in the film knew what was going on as well. If more of the film had been like that (with non-actors actively in on the joke and making it work), I probably would have enjoyed it more.

Like I said though, if others enjoy it, that's fine. Just not my cup of tea, however.