Running time: 88 minutes
Starring: Sacha Baron Cohen, Charles Dance, Michael Gambon Kellie Bright, Rhona Mitra, Martin Freeman
Rating 7 out of 10
Big up to the West Staines Massive! Rapper and self-appointed yoof spokesman Ali G is breaking into the movie business, and his debut feature is finally here, surfing on a tidal wave of media hype.No doubt, this puerile melange of toilet humour and Ali's trademark putdowns will play to packed houses with the target teenage crowd. There's no accounting for (bad) taste.
Ali G (Sacha Baron Cohen) is distraught to learn that his beloved John Nike Leisure Centre is being shut down through lack of funding. As the eponymous hero laments in his own distinctive style: "How is dese kids gonna make it outta de ghetto now?"
At the invitation of scheming Deputy Prime Minister, David Carlton (Charles Dance), Ali stands for election as the government's candidate for West Staines. Miraculously, he wins the vote by the narrowest of margins, and heads straight for the House of Commons.
There, Ali joins forces with the beleaguered Prime Minister (Michael Gambon) to become the country's most unconventional (and snappily dressed) member of parliament, bringing his own unique perspective to the asylum and drug issues. However, Ali has personal pressures to contend with too, such as maintaining his fractious relationship with girlfriend Me Julie, and his growing attraction to the PM's flirtatious assistant Kate.
He also has to stay true to his roots, and his lifelong friendship with the inimitable Ricky C. Political backbiting within the party reveals a front bench coup d'etat. Carlton wants to usurp the Prime Minister, using Ali as the unwitting pawn in a high stakes game of rumour and sleaze. Can the man from West Staines protect his party leader from the traitors in the midst, without ruffling his trademark yellow tracksuit?
Ali G Indahouse is a filthy-minded romance a la There's Something About Mary, underpinned with ham-fisted political satire and social commentary. Bestiality, masturbation, oral sex, anal sex - no taboo subject is left untouched by the scriptwriters in their quest for shocks and laughs.
There's a surprising sweetness and sentimentality to the film, particularly in the relationship between Ali and Me Julie. Unfortunately any attempts at characterisation tend to get lost beneath the bodily fluids and effluvia.
If Ali G's gross-out humour is to your taste then this film is for you. If not look elsewhere..
