BORAT

RYAN: I feel as though we’ve traveled to a foreign country and back; that country being Kazakhstan.

CAROLINE: I’ve just had a cultural experience the likes of which I’ve never had, ever, before in my life.

RYAN: And it can be described with one word:

CAROLINE: “Borat.”

RYAN: Precisely. All I can say is this: at a time in entertainment when the biggest and most universal complaint is that there’s nothing original and that Hollywood’s recycling ideas and re-making films, this is one of the most original films I’ve seen in a long time.

CAROLINE: I’ve never seen anything so outrageous, so uncomfortable and yet so funny. I don’t have words.

RYAN: I have words: laugh out loud, hysterical, hilarity, brilliance, genius.

CAROLINE: But also painful! I was trying for the life of me to figure out how Sacha Baron Cohen did this without getting himself killed…

RYAN: …Or arrested.

CAROLINE: Or murdered.

RYAN: Or beaten up.

CAROLINE: There are parts in the movie where you’re like, “No! There’s NO WAY he could have done that.” But then you realize, he did.

RYAN: He did indeed. And it makes for a thrilling movie. He’s come up with his own brand of humor and comedy and film-making and it’s absolutely brilliant. But the real thing, which is the kind of double-side of this film, is that it’s very entertaining but it also has a big political agenda.

CAROLINE: You’re going “Syriana” on me now?

RYAN: Oh I have to. It’s so warranted. Don’t tell me it went over your head?

CAROLINE: You mean the ignorance of Middle America?

RYAN: Yes, the ignorance, the bigotry, the racism, the homophobia. An outrage, I tell you! All of these things that are just as shocking, if not more, than the humor in the film.

CAROLINE: There are indeed a couple of jaw-dropping moments in the film where you can’t believe that these words are coming out of these people’s mouths.

RYAN: And that’s the point where I wonder if these people didn’t sign releases. Did they know they were going to be portrayed as the imbeciles they are?

CAROLINE: As people who have worked in television, we know that anyone who appears on camera has to have signed a release form, and some of the things that are said in this movie are so outrageous that you wonder if “Borat” bypassed that step. Because I can’t imagine these people would want to be on camera saying the things they’re saying.

RYAN: Exactly. Can they sue? But props to Sacha Baron Cohen. And he has lots of other characters and it’s going to be interesting to see because the sequel to this movie isn’t going to be a Borat film, it’s actually going to be about Bruno.

CAROLINE: His gay, Austrian fashionista character.

RYAN: I don’t know if it’s gonna be the same thing as “Borat,” like pulling unwitting people into the movie. Actually there was one movie that did something similar, albeit in a different way: “Jiminy Glick in Lalawood.” Martin Short did it but he was hoodwinking celebrities and junkets.

CAROLINE: Yes, but he did it in the safe environs of Hollywood whereas this is like, scary Middle America racist people.

RYAN: (chuckles) Yes.

CAROLINE: And by the way, I’ve never had a movie going experience like this one in my life. We went with a group of eight people and we couldn’t come close to finding seats together.

RYAN: You and I even had to sit with an aisle between us. I missed your warmth beside me.

CAROLINE: Ok, gross. But I mean the enormous lines, people clapping before the movie even started and then cheering and howling with laughter the whole time.

RYAN: Yes. It was like attending a live theater event. But it’s New York City and this was the movie’s opening weekend and I’ve seen crowds like this before at “Star Wars” and “Harry Potter” movies.

CAROLINE: Yes, but those are huge blockbusters and this is just a solo comic guy being funny, and the audience was cheering just waiting for it to start.

RYAN: It’ll be interesting to see if this film breaks the $100 million mark at the box office. That would be huge because this was made on a pretty small budget.

CAROLINE: Yeah, I think it was about $17 million.

RYAN: Which is small for a potential box office-buster like this. So it’ll be great to see what happens with this; and what it means for Sacha Baron Cohen’s career. And he’s British.

CAROLINE: And Jewish. And hot.

RYAN: Well, I don’t know about that.

CAROLINE: Not as Borat, as himself. Have you ever seen him? He’s 6’3″.

RYAN: That means he’s tall. Tall does not always hot make.

CAROLINE: In my world it does.

RYAN: Didn’t you see his flat ass when he was wearing the thong?

CAROLINE: Whatever, I like his hairiness.

RYAN: All right then. Getting to know you, Caroline.

CAROLINE: (laughs)

RYAN: Bottom line?

CAROLINE: Wow. This is not just a movie. This is an experience. It’s profoundly disturbing whilst also hilarious. It’s a must-see for any culturally savvy American.

RYAN: Yes… what she said.