Los Angeles: Ali G is older, but not a bit wiser, in his latest big-screen incarnation, the first since 2002’s Ali G Indahouse. And judging by the amount of controversy already stirred up, Sacha Baron Cohen’s iconic character of a middle-class white Brit appropriating hip-hop and Jamaican mannerisms still has the ability to rile people.
A Mockumentary Format
Marking Cohen’s feature directorial debut, Ali G: Who Iz I? differs from its predecessor with a mockumentary format similar to that of the Borat films. Unfortunately, it’s a decidedly hit-and-miss affair — plenty of laughs, to be sure, but many dead spots as well. Being given a limited theatrical release this week, the film will find a bigger audience when it begins streaming on Prime Video.
Real People, Real Reactions
As he did on HBO’s Da Ali G Show, Ali G interacts with real people to greater or lesser comedic effect. From the beginning, the film takes pains to make sure you know the interactions have not been scripted; after identifying the few fictional characters — including Ali’s very pregnant girlfriend Julie (an admirably fearless Morgana Robinson, taking over from the previous film’s Kellie Bright) — an onscreen graphic assures us, “Everybody else in the movie is real.”
There are some scripted scenes involving Ali and Julie, with silly plotlines such as Ali coming to believe he’s the biological son of A$AP Rocky (the rapper/actor, along with Rihanna, shows up late in the film to let us know he’s in on the joke). But the bulk revolves around supposedly non-scripted interactions with real folks, featuring not only Ali but also two other Cohen characters — Dr. Nira Cain-N’Degeocello, a demented ultra-leftist professor, and Erran Morad, a jacked Israeli former Mossad agent (both reprised from Who Is America?).
The Misses
Some bits wouldn’t have passed muster on Candid Camera: Ali ineptly trying out for a zoo job and angering the zookeeper by offering animals “grass” of the cannabis kind; attempting to sell an urn at a pawn shop and accidentally spilling the ashes; flustering a gynecologist by insisting Julie isn’t really pregnant. A lengthy segment in which Ali racks up a $12,000 bill at a fancy restaurant with his “team,” only to learn HBO won’t pay, falls completely flat.
The Hits
More successful are bits in which the professor proposes a “Compulsory Gender Reversal Year” at a California Department of Education meeting; Ali scarfing down over-the-counter boner pills in a liquor store with very visible results; and a lecture to religious figures featuring testimonials from Nelson Mandela, Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G. (“Not AI,” he assures them).
At one point Ali is offered “The Free Speech Show with Ali G,” letting him showcase guests like Jacob Chansley, the QAnon shaman, and George Santos. But the segment fizzles — making Santos look like a fool seems redundant, and getting an audience to deliver a Nazi salute doesn’t seem like much of a stretch these days.
The Mossad Sequence
The most elaborate sequence involves the Mossad agent recruiting white Texas yahoos for a plot to kidnap Julie’s baby (it’s complicated), and to don a “weapon” on the lower half of their bodies. The plot is carried out to horrific proportions, but the subjects are so utterly moronic that the gag stops being amusing.
The Verdict
Cohen is so naturally funny and quick with improvisation that there are plenty of laughs along the way. And while much of the material is offensive, that’s really the point. But the humour starts to drag with the feature-length running time. Ali G, it seems, is best taken in small doses.
Full Credits
Production: Four By Two Films, Working Title Films
Distributor: Amazon MGM Studios
Cast: Sacha Baron Cohen, Morgana Robinson
Director: Sacha Baron Cohen
Screenwriters: Sacha Baron Cohen, Anthony Hines, Peter Baynham, Dan Swimer, Dan Mazer, Colton Dunn, Vernon Chatman
Producers: Sacha Baron Cohen, Petr Jakl
Directors of photography: Chris Darnel, Luke Geissbuhler, Markus Mentzer
Editors: Debra Neil-Fisher, Craig Alpert, Michael Giambra, Mark Davies
Composers: Erran Baron Cohen, Nami Melamud
Rated R, 1 hour 29 minutes
