REEL CRITICS:’Borat’s’ uncultured ways will shock

Cutting-edge comedian Sacha Baron Cohen is a 21st century version of Groucho Marx on steroids and mind-altering drugs. Like Groucho, Cohen creates tongue-incheek characters who skewer every convention of modern life. While interacting with the rich and selfrighteous of society, he exposes the pretense and stupidity that lie just below the surface of their apparently happy lives.

Cohen seems to become Borat, a TV journalist from Kazakhstan who mangles the English language and embraces a worldview that is politically incorrect in every conceivable way. He is sent to America with his morbidly obese producer to interview citizens of the “U.S. and A.” and report on what makes our country so great. The full title of the film is “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.” It only begins to hint at how bizarre the scenes can get.

Bathroom humor, insane sex jokes and outrageous conduct fill the screen. Religion, racial issues, politics and middle-class values are torn up by Cohen’s machine-gun brand of comedy. An angry nude wrestling match between Borat and his fat hairy producer, Azamat Bagatov, exceeds every boundary of decency imaginable.

And yet, the sold-out audience at my Sunday-afternoon screening howled with laughter over and over again.

This movie is not for the easily offended or the faint of heart. But if you can handle the extreme limits of what makes us laugh and cringe at the same time, you might howl with laughter too.

JOHN DEPKO is a Costa Mesa resident and a senior investigator for the Orange County public defender’s office.

A tower of a film

“Babel” is this year’s “Crash.” It features a multinational cast and intertwines several powerfully told dramas over the course of just five days.

Created by Alejandro González Iñárritu and Guillermo Arriaga (“21 Grams”) and filmed in several languages on three continents, it deals with violence, fear, mistrust, prejudice and fateful lapses in judgment.

It begins in a windy Moroccan desert when Abdullah (nonactor Mustapha Rachidi) buys a shotgun for his two sons so they can protect their herd of goats. Their lives tragically cross paths with Richard and Susan (Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett), who are trying to work out marital issues while on vacation.

In San Diego, Amelia (Adriana Barraza) is the devoted nanny of two young children whose well-to-do parents are out of town. Although it is her son’s wedding day, her employer insists she change her plans to look after the kids.

In Japan, pretty Chieko (Rinko Kikuchi) is a deaf-mute, sullen teenager. She is desperately looking for male attention, perhaps as a way to assuage her loneliness after the death of her mother.

The ensemble cast is terrific, with Amhita, Barraza and Kikuchi giving heartbreaking performances.

Misunderstandings abound and multiply. Lives are shattered. One cannot help but feel genuine concern and anguish for these characters.

“Babel” is an ambitious project that demands a lot from its audience. Its message may be cloudy, but it is definitely one of the top films of the year.

SUSANNE PEREZ lives in Costa Mesa and is an executive assistant for a financial services company.