Sorry about the title, but I wanted to get all the catch phrases we're all going to be sick of in two weeks out of the way right at the start. As I hinted at a few days ago, Malaya and me did get to the theater this weekend. We weren't the only ones either, as Borat opened to
a tremendous $26m from just 837 theaters. That's over $31k per theater, more than 6x the per-theater gross of any other film this weekend. We saw it early Saturday evening in a good-sized theater that was at least 75% full, and even with three theaters showing it in the megaplex we trafficked, I wouldn't be surprised if they sold out the prime time shows.
I'd been wondering how the box office would do. Borat's enjoyed tremendous publicity, both free and paid, but I thought it might be another Snakes on a Plane; all Internet hype that resulted in a shit movie that underperformed. Much of Borat's hype was based on rave reviews though, and apparently it translated into actual fannies in actual seats.
As for the film itself... it wasn't great. Malaya was amused but somewhat bored, and while I laughed out loud quite a bit, I wished there'd been more of a plot to tie everything together. Like most comedies, it's basically a bunch of wacky episodes that are stitched together in no particular order to form a final film. Most of them are funny, and you know where the film is going right from the start, but I greeted the climax and conclusion with an, "Okay, let's see what happens next." attitude, rather than any real anticipation or excitement. I might have enjoyed it more if I hadn't read so many previews and known half the jokes in advance. On the other hand, I enjoyed anticipating lots of the laughs since I knew some of what was coming. I laughed as much as anyone there, though, but I laugh out lout at lots of stupid things, and I'm not real shocked by things that had some other people staring in amazed silence, so anyway.
I was relieved that the film wasn't a bunch of long, painful candid camera scenes. It's amazing how fast things keep moving; most of the segments are literally 1-2 minutes long, and some are much shorter. I'd heard about the Alan Keyes interview and wondered/dreaded how Borat would get a rise out of that certified nutcase. And then I saw the film and Keyes was on screen for maybe 15 seconds. I still think Borat is funnier in concept and memory than actuality, but it was worth seeing, and I hope to have time to write a fuller review later this week.
Labels: borat, movies
