Everything from the satirical edge to the perfect timing to the audacious originality that made BORAT so good is missing from Sacha Baron Cohen's first attempt to take characters from his DA ALI G SHOW to the big screen. ALI G INDAHOUSE is sunk by an awful sitcom plot and tired, recycled juvenile humor.
In the film, Ali G is a wanna-be gangster, who works at a youth center teaching kids how to "Keep It Real." When the center's funding is pulled, he chains himself to a fence in a pitiful attempt at a hunger strike. However, this incident gives deputy prime minister David Carlton (Charles Dance, SWIMMING POOL) an idea. Because his political party is looking to court the youth vote, he believes Ali G will fit the bill and ultimately bringing down the Prime Minister (Michael Gambon, GOSFORD PARK), giving Carlton the chance to take over.
Helping Carlton is his sexy assistant Kate Hedges (Rhona Mitra, TV's NIP/TUCK). However, as this same plot has shown us before, despite Ali G's complete incompetence, he rises to be the toast of the Parliament. However, as Ali G's fame rises will he forget his girl Julie (Kellie Bright, KINKY BOOTS) and his best mate Ricky C (Martin Freeman, THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY) allowing rival gangster Hassan B (Ray Panthaki, 28 DAYS LATER) to take over his hood?
This paint-by-numbers plot can't even color within the line. I think I've sued that line before, but I'm just keeping in tune with the film. There is so little originality in this effort that you'll keep thinking of a million other bad movies where you've seen the same material before. The script is so bad that it even recycles its own jokes, which were not funny in the first place. A few funny moment pop up from time to time, which made me laugh out loud, but I'm unsure whether the moments were really that funny or I was just caught off guard because something slightly witty slipped in.
Cohen, whose talent is on display in BORAT and DA ALI G SHOW, isn't even very good here. His timing and delivery is off. He mumbles through his dialogue loosing a great deal of impact. It's embarrassing to see someone like Gambon stuck in such tired crud as the clueless straight man. Additionally, Mitra tries too hard to be sexy, which actually makes her unappealing. The only person who comes out of this mess looking okay is Freeman, who does the best with the material he can.
The film reeks of cheap profiteering from the early success of the ALI G SHOW. It's no wonder it took two additional years to arrive on DVD in the U.S. after the TV series hit big here. It'll leave a bad taste in the mouth of any fan who loves the TV show and BORAT feature. Cohen has come a long way since his film.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
