Some people think English comedian Sacha Baron Cohen is a genius, others think he is a menace. At the very least he is a provocateur, and he's in rare form in the six episodes of the 2003 second season collected here. Cohen has three alter egos: “hip-hop journalist” Ali G, whose grasp of current events is uneven at best; Borat, an anti-Semitic TV reporter from Kazakhstan; and Bruno, a flamboyantly gay Austrian fashion commentator. In these guises Cohen corners and interrogates real-life figures who think he's an actual journalist, peppering them with stupid questions and deliberately misinterpreting their answers, while prodding them to say something foolish. Season two interviewees—or should we say victims?—include veteran ABC newsman Sam Donaldson, paleo-conservative pundit Pat Buchanan, former L.A. police chief Daryl Gates, novelist Gore Vidal, and former EPA administrator Christine Todd Whitman. There's something indisputably sophomoric about Cohen's schtick, but in addition to getting laughs with his own remarks he often elicits hysterically (if unintentionally) funny comments from his subjects. Some will find Da Ali G Show irreverent and exasperating, but those approaching it with an open mind will recognize in Cohen's antics more than a soupcon of irony—and some perceptive social commentary as well. DVD extras include over 50 minutes of bonus sketches featuring all three characters. Recommended. (E. Hulse)
Da Ali G Show: Da Compleet Second Seazon
HBO, 2 discs, 180 min., not rated, DVD: $29.95 Volume 20, Issue 6
Da Ali G Show: Da Compleet Second Seazon
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