Ali G Indahouse
Ali G Indahouse | |
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Directed by | Mark Mylod |
Written by | |
Produced by |
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Starring |
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Cinematography | Ashley Rowe |
Edited by | Paul Knight |
Music by | Adam F |
Production companies |
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Distributed by | Universal Pictures (through United International Pictures) |
Release date |
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Running time | 88 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Budget | £5 million |
Box office | £17.2 million |
Ali G Indahouse is a 2002 British comedy film written by Sacha Baron Cohen and Dan Mazer, directed by Mark Mylod, and starring Baron Cohen as Ali G, the character he originally played on the Channel 4 comedy series The 11 O'Clock Show and Da Ali G Show. It is the first of four films based on Baron Cohen's characters from Da Ali G Show, followed by Borat (2006), Brüno (2009), and Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (2020). It is the only one of these films to consist solely of a fictional narrative with no mockumentary element.
Plot
Though he is inexperienced as an MP, Ali's outlandish behaviour and ideas seem to work. He visits a customs checkpoint in Dover as a delegate compiling a report, where he invites the West Staines Massiv under the guise of experts to consume the confiscated drugs and pornography in the evidence room, and through strategies such as making education more relatable and ensuring the immigration of attractive women into the country, Ali becomes popular; he meets the Prime Minister's goals and brings the PM's percentage lead in the polls up by 22%. With this, the Prime Minister offers to save the John Nike Leisure Centre. Ali accompanies the Prime Minister to a United Nations peace conference to avert war between Chad and Burkina Faso. The United States and Russia back opposing countries, and both threaten nuclear attacks. Ali sneaks into the catering area and drugs everyone's tea with cannabis acquired during the customs visit, which has the side effect of making the leaders of Chad and Burkina Faso allies and even lovers. The Prime Minister says that Ali has saved the world, but Carlton's secretary Kate Hedges figures out what Ali has done and sends the empty cannabis bag to the press. Ali is forced to leave Parliament.
Before the John Nike Leisure Centre can be saved from imminent demolition, a video emerges of Ali and his girlfriend having sex in the Prime Minister's bedroom at
Cast
- Sacha Baron Cohen as Ali G
- Michael Gambon as the Prime Minister
- Charles Dance as Deputy Prime Minister David Carlton
- Kellie Bright as Me Julie
- Martin Freeman as Richard “Ricky C” Cunningham
- Rhona Mitra as Kate Hedges
- Barbara New as Ali's Nan
- Ray Panthaki as Hassan B
- Emilio Rivera as Rico
- Paul Clayton as Alan Swan Lake
- Olegar Fedoro as Russian Minister
- Tony Way as Dangerous Dave
- Eileen Essell as Mrs. Hugh
- Daniella Lavender as Maid
- Capri Ashby as Nurse Nina
- John Scott Martin as Mr. Johnson
- Graham McTavish as Customs Officer
- Naomi Campbell as herself
- Nabil Elouahabi as Jezzy F
- Bruce Jamieson as Journalist
- Anna Keaveney as Secretary
- Rudolph Walker as President Mwepu
Production
The opening "gangland" dream sequence was filmed in
Release
The film premiered in the United Kingdom on 22 March 2002, and was released in various other countries throughout the rest of 2002 and midway through 2003.[1] It was given a limited theatrical release in the United States; the film was released on a few screens in Austin, Texas On September 5 2003,[2] but Universal had not reported the US box office result.[3]
The film was released via
Reception
Commercial performance
The film grossed a total of £17.2 million on a budget of £5 million.[5][6]
Critical reception
The film received mixed reviews. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported that 53% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 17 reviews, with an average rating of 5.16/10.[7] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 46 out of 100 based on 9 critic reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[8] It opened to some notably negative reviews from critics; however, over the years, the film began to receive some positive mentions following the successes of Baron Cohen's subsequent films Borat and Brüno. While some hailed it as a successful low culture comedy,[9] it inspired little of the strong fan enthusiasm associated with Da Ali G Show and Borat.
Soundtrack
On 18 March 2002, a soundtrack album for the film was released. Featuring music used in the film, it also featured linking material by Ali G as if the album were a pirate radio broadcast on Ali's "Drive By FM". It was an enhanced CD, featuring the music video for "Me Julie".
Cultural impact
In 2012, Staines was officially renamed by the local council to Staines-upon-Thames partly to avoid the fictional gang associations implied by the film.[10]
References
- Amazon.com. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
- ^ 5 Sep 2003, 59 - Austin American-Statesman at Newspapers.com
- ^ "Ali G Indahouse – Box Office Data, Movie News, Cast Information". The Numbers. Retrieved 20 April 2011.
- ^ "Ali G Indahouse". The Guardian. 24 March 2002. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
- ^ "Ali G Indahouse – Box Office Data, Movie News, Cast Information". The Numbers. Retrieved 20 April 2011.
- ^ "Ali G Indahouse (15)". British Board of Film Classification. 7 March 2002. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
- ^ "Ali G Indahouse (2004)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
- CBS Interactive. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
- ^ Hollywood Reporter.com Archived 14 December 2006 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Staines becomes Staines-upon-Thames to shake off Ali G link". BBC News. 20 May 2012. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
External links
- Ali G Indahouse at IMDb
- Ali G Indahouse at Rotten Tomatoes
- "The ultimate Borat + Ali G website" Archived 16 February 2006 at the Wayback Machine
- Ali G InDaHouse London Film Review Archived 9 November 2006 at the Wayback Machine
- [1]