Ali G: Who Iz I? is on Prime Video now, and maybe in a theater near you, though probably not for much longer.
Once the genesis of Sacha Baron Cohen’s mockumentary career, white Rude Boy poseur Ali G now marks its whimper of an ending. Released on Prime Video just five days after its theatrical release, the actor’s directorial debut Ali G: Who Iz I? barely holds together as either cinema or practical joke — let alone where the two have met in the past, by way of his exceptionally enduring Borat. His efforts this time feel especially feeble, landing somewhere in the realm of an unfocused Matt Walsh documentary, where the result isn’t so much laughter, or even provocation, but puzzled annoyance. Fifteen minutes in, one of his unsuspecting targets sums it up succinctly when shown a presentation meant to offend her: “I don’t care.”
Cohen’s latest borrows characters from both HBO’s Da Ali G show as well as his Showtime series Who Is America? in an attempt to weave a political portrait of the modern United States, all wrapped in a flimsy narrative. Like the riotous Borat sequel Subsequent Moviefilm , Who Iz I? is nominally about the wannabe British Rastafari facing fatherhood, when he learns that his longtime girlfriend Julie (Morgana Robinson, taking over for Kellie Bright from the narrative comedy Ali G Indahouse) is pregnant with their child. An attempt to get a third season of his HBO interview series off the ground finds him flying across the pond to LA, where his arrival catches the attention of another Cohen character, Showtime’s Dr.
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