First things first, I can't remember the last time I heard so many people laugh as often and as loudly as they did in Borat (the full title being Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan ). Audience members were apparently unfazed by the very serious controversies surrounding this 'mockumentary' from both Kazakh officials and the hapless Americans who were duped into participating. They were there for a good time and they certainly had one!

Borat Sagdiyev (Sacha Baron Cohen) is a major television personality in his home country, Kazakhstan. When we meet Borat, he's giving us a tour of his homeland. There is the town rapist. There is his sister, the fourth best prostitute in all of Kazakhstan whom he greets with a sloppy French kiss. There are pigs in the frontyard and a cow in the house. His network is sending Borat, along with his producer Azamat (Ken Vavitian), to America for tips on bringing Kazakhstan into the 21st century. Borat's travels take him to New York where his European three-kiss greetings don't go over too well. However, an evening of American television ends up taking his documentary into an entirely different direction when he sees an episode of Baywatch. Suddenly, he wants to go to California ... to marry Pamela Anderson (she plays herself)

So Borat and Azamat, hit the road, stopping in Washington, DC; Richmond, VA; Dallas, TX with a few other stops along the way. They interview congressmen, feminists, gun shop owners and car salesmen; get lessons in etiquette; participate in a gay pride march; and practically get kicked out of a rodeo. The people Borat encounters are real and so are their reactions; reactions that often produced raucous laughter. Borat comes across as an enthusiastic innocent; which is how he's able to coax such honest reactions out of his 'co-stars.'

Some of the bits were so over-the-top that you couldn't help but laugh. When Borat emerges from the bathroom and returns to the dinner table with a small plastic bag with a suspicious looking brown substance inside it's definitely funny. It's that kind of shock value combined with the honestly unrehearsed reactions to his antics that make the comedy work so well.

With Borat, no one is immune. Women, Jews, blacks, drunk college kids, Christians, gays, everyone is game and everyone, at some point, is at the center of the joke. Most people enjoyed it. However, I did see two people walk out. If you are easily offended, this might not be your cup of tea.

Borat is a very funny movie. At 84 minutes, its pretty much funny all the way through, and that is a rarity these days.