‘Borat 2’ exposes Americans’ stupidity, ‘Tenet’ leads to confusion
Sacha Baron Cohen, the king of disguises, is back.
Fourteen years after the first “Borat” feature film, Cohen returns with a clandestinely filmed sequel. Much of “Borat 2” was filmed pre-pandemic, yet his reappearance comes into a wholly different world.
At the end of the first film, Borat failed to marry Pamela Anderson – bringing shame to his country of Kazakhstan. The sequel finds him in jail for his failures, but his government will allow him a chance to redeem himself if he can deliver a film star monkey to President Donald Trump.
Because Borat defiled the garden surrounding a Trump tower in the first film, Vice President Mike Pence becomes his target. When unexpectedly joined by his daughter (Maria Bakalova), Borat decides to offer her as a gift instead.
Do not expect much of the plot to make sense. But for the record, real-world Kazakhstan has embraced Borat this time around.
Once in America, Borat has to deal with something that did not exist the first time: recognition by the public. His solution is to don differing costumes of the “generic American.” Cohen deftly pivots the plot when the pandemic hits in the middle of filming.
As in the first film, Cohen easily exposes the worst in people. Only this time around, it seems like people are proud to look like terrible human beings. There are some poignant moments between Borat and his daughter, while several other moments are gut-bustingly funny.
Cohen’s films aren’t for everyone, but if you’re in the mood for laughs and watching Americans look stupid, give it a try on Amazon. B.
Tenet on the big screen
Warner Brothers delayed the release of Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet” about a half dozen times. As a small portion of theaters began reopening, “Tenet” was finally released.
But in only half the desired number of screens and with severely reduced seating, “Tenet” was destined to be a domestic flop. In many other countries, where movies are a safe thing to do, it has been a huge success. Its cinematic merit falls somewhere in the middle.
John David Washington plays an unnamed protagonist who goes on a few daring missions to look for someone who might be coveting radioactive materials. Along the way, he is made aware of a new type of time travel that leads to something called “inversion.” Bullets fly out of walls and back into guns, while inverted people move backward.
The visuals are executed beautifully, with great choreography and stunts. The plot, however, is wholly confusing.
Nolan has never shied away from confusing plots (“Memento,” “The Prestige,” “Inception”), yet he typically employs careful character exposition to help the audience along. Aside from an early scene, “Tenet” unfortunately does its small amount of explaining during loud, chaotic scenes. I stopped bothering to figure it out halfway through and just tried to have a good time.
My first indoor film in seven months should not have been at a senses-shattering IMAX screen. I look forward to watching this film again at home, with subtitles turned on.
B- for now.
Jeff Mellinger is a screen writer and film buff. He holds a BA in Film Studies and an MFA in film production. He lives in Concord. Email comments to editor@pioneerpublishers.com.