Ali G: In Da House
Directors: Mark Mylod
Producers: Sacha Baron Cohen, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, William Green And Dan Mazer
Writers: Sacha Baron Cohen And Dan Mazer
Features: n/a
Characters:
Ali G...Sacha Baron Cohen
Prime Minister...Michael Gambon
David Carlton...Charles Dance
Me Julie...Kellie Bright
Ricky C...Martin Freeman
Naomi Campbell...Naomi Campbell
Kate Hedges...Rhona Mitra
Genre: Comedy
Review:
Ali G is a joke. A joke that is usually played on stuffed shirts and stodgy officials that have no clue. On Ali's show that sometimes plays in the States, he will somehow have wrangled an interview on television with someone important sounding and then proceed to ask the most outlandish questions. His guest is usually unsettled to find a white looking, foreign sounding, rap talking, medallion wearing, ghetto dressed person doing the interview. In many cases his victim will still have no clue and continue trying to clarify what Ali G is pretending he doesn't understand as he asks even more off the wall questions. Ali G's show originates in England and is shown in the United States on HBO and some other channels infrequently.
Now Ali G has taken his Ali G personality to the movies. "Ali G: In Da House" exploits Ali G's ghetto/rap wigger persona to its' fullest. He and his buddies run around in a fantasy world of wiggers. Everyone dresses black, talks black and trys to act black except they are in England. Ali G belongs to a gang known as the Westside. The Westside has a gang of wigger rivals known as, what else, the Eastside. They try to create problems for the Westside as any good rival gang would. Both gangs have compact cars with outlandish sound systems. Driving down the London streets Ali G and his homies blast their music and sign to passerbys, but when a police car passes Ali G is quick to give them the bug off sign from below the car's window. Ali G also lives at home with his mother.
This movie starts out as Ali G is teaching his 'Keep It Real' ghetto class to a group of overprivileged white kids at the Staines Recreation Center. Ali G finds out that the British government has decided not to fund the Center anymore and it will be closed down. Ali G doesn't have much going for him in his world, but his classes mean everything to him so he decides to protest outside a government building. Inside the Prime Minister, played by Michael Gambon("Open Range") and a deputy minister named David Carlton(Charles Dance) are discussing how to get back the confidence of the voters. The Prime Minister mentions that maybe they need someone ethnic and then they both see Ali G. The deputy minister talks to
Ali G about running for office, but Ali G will have nothing to do with politics until it is pointed out to him that he can save the Staines Recreation Center by playing ball. Ali G agrees which makes the deputy minister extremely happy because he secretly wants the Prime Minister to be recalled figuring that he can then step into the vacant office. With a moron like Ali G representing the Prime Minister's party how can it not happen?
This movie comes off as a sort of Cheech and Chong vehicle with no nudity. Instead of rock music the music is now rap. Ali G is heavy into drugs and sleazy women. He wimps out to his steady girlfriend whom he calls 'Me Julie'(Kellie Bright}, but he likes to daydream about supermodels and him. In his mind he is a ladies man and will often make a fool of himself trying to impress the ladies. Dope he doesn't daydream about. He and his homies like to smoke large amounts of grass. Ali G likes porn, too. While visiting a customs outpost as the Prime Ministers representative Ali G calls in some experts/homies to properly evaluate the drugs and German porno tapes confiscated. Later as the United Nations is having trouble coming to a peace accord, Ali G slips a strain of super grass he stole from customs into the tea being served and brings about world peace.
"Ali G: In Da House" is a hit or miss movie. In Britain where it has been out for a whiie it is probably more a hit than a miss. What causes it to miss are the sometimes hard to follow British accents and the British cultural differences. When Ali G does his generic rap talk he is very understandable. When he throws in some British colloquialisms it will occasionally become confusing. When his homies start to jive or even a regular British actor talks it can sometimes be difficult to catch the drift. That is why when Ali G is by himself or there is not much talking he is funnier then when interacting. Toward the end of the movie it gets really funny as Ali G is so busy putting a plan of action into effect that there is little time to talk. Rowan Atkinson, another British commedian had a big hit in America with a character he created in the movie "Mr. Bean." In this movie Mr. Bean was wisely sent to the United States to have his misadventures so there was no clash of cultures. "Ali G: In Da House" was made in Britain and it is only now that Universal Pictures is testing the waters to see if Ali G can translate to a success in the States.
Like I said the comedy in the movie is a kind of hit or miss. It is dumb as in made to be dumb. Overall I found it mildly amusing. Fans of Ali G will probably like the movie more. It may also appeal to the Cheech and Chong crowd. This is not a bad movie, it just suffers from cultural differences.
I will give it two out of five stars.
----Randy