THE DVD SHELF: "Borat," Peter Pan," "Full Monty" and More

By Steven Suskin
25 Mar 2007

THE DVD SHELF: "Borat," Peter Pan," "Full Monty" and More

This month's column discusses the recently released "Borat" and "Fast Food Nation" as well as enhanced and expanded two-disc reissues of "The Full Monty," Disney's "Peter Pan," and the WWII spell-binder "The 49th Parallel."

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The 2006 satire Borat has just now arrived on DVD. A monumental worldwide hit, one's personal reaction to it will depend upon one's level of tolerance for the offensive. Offensive it is, and purposely so. How much is too much? Well, I'll leave that to you. Very funny is "Borat"; very very funny, you could say. But there's a line beyond which the outrageous becomes cruel, and beyond which what is funny becomes funny, not (as Borat's humor coach might say). Sacha Baron Cohen — who will play Pirelli in the upcoming Tim Burton film version of Sweeney Todd — crosses said line over and over again; that's the point, I suppose. Just how offensive is "Borat"? I, personally, do not blanch at wicked humor; but Mr. Cohen's masterwork has its moments. I suppose you could say, succinctly, that "Borat" makes "Blazing Saddles" look like "Anne of Green Gables." Enough said.

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A very different experience is to be had with Fast Food Nation. Director Richard Linklater has taken Eric Schlosser's 2002 book about the meat packing industry and turned it into what might be described as a fictional documentary. The plot follows an executive of a major fast food chain — "Mickey's," lest you confuse them with McDonalds — trying to track a report of unacceptable levels of fecal matter in the "Big One." Not to be confused with the Big Mac.

Linklater interweaves three stories in an Altman-like manner, with always interesting results. Greg Kinnear leads the acting pack, tracking down those contaminated all-beef patties (with or without their privates? as Mrs. Lovett might say). There are any number of highly interesting, brief performances from familiar faces; standing out are Kris Kristofferson, Ethan Hawke, Patricia Arquette, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Wilmer Valderrama, and an especially brutal Bruce Willis. Most startling is the climactic footage which follows a piece of meat through the killing room. If this doesn't put you off hamburgers, nothing will.

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Fox has also released an "All-New, Fully Loaded, Two-Disc Fully Exposed Edition" of The Full Monty. You've seen the film before, no doubt; here we have "ten never-before-seen deleted scenes, ten all-new featurettes" and more. This British film was adapted into a Broadway musical, yes; but the original works better. Far better. Foreign, by American standards, but endearingly human. Continued...