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Ali G Indahouse
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Wikipedia article
'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), 'Brno' (2009), and 'Borat Subsequent Moviefilm' (2020). It is also the only one of these films to consist solely of a fictional narrative with no mockumentary element.
Plot
Ali G is the leader of Da West Staines Massiv, a fictional gang composed of wannabe gangsters from Staines. Their chief rivals are Da East Staines Massiv. Da West Staines Massiv decide to protest when they learn that their cherished hangout, the John Nike Leisure Centre (where Ali teaches a life support group for young schoolboys), will be demolished by the local council. After he goes on a hunger strike and is spotted locked to some railings by the Deputy Prime Minister David Carlton, Ali is thrown into a world of political corruption as the Deputy Prime Minister tries to use him as a catalyst to ruin the Prime Minister's reputation. Ali is put forward as a candidate to be the next MP for Staines and manages to alienate most of the electorate. During a debate, he tries to insult his rival candidate by claiming that the candidate "sucked off a horse". Unbeknownst to Ali, the candidate actually did so and subsequently resigns, leaving Ali the winner.
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, and through strategies such as making education more relatable and ensuring the immigration of attractive women into the country, Ali becomes incredibly 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 the French-speaking African nations of 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, 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 Chequers. As Ali was wearing items of the Prime Minister's clothing at the time, the press misconstrues the video as the Prime Minister's sex tape with a prostitute, forcing the Prime Minister's resignation. This results in Carlton being made acting Prime Minister, and he quickly orders the destruction of the leisure centre. He also reveals that he purchased all available real estate in Staines, knowing that the town will be destroyed to make way for the construction of a new terminal for Heathrow Airport which will make him wealthy. The West Staines Massiv race to find the master copy of the CCTV tape proving the Prime Minister's innocence, offering a truce to the gangs in and around Staines to help them break into the vaults and retrieve the tape. They succeed and reinstate the original Prime Minister. Staines is saved from destruction, with the Prime Minister declaring that Slough will be destroyed instead. The film ends with Ali as the British ambassador to Jamaica, where Carlton is forced to obey his every command.
Cast
* Sacha Baron Cohen as Ali G and Borat Sagdiyev
* Michael Gambon as the Prime Minister
* Charles Dance as Deputy Prime Minister David Carlton
* Kellie Bright as Me Julie (credited as Kelly Bright)
* Martin Freeman as Ricky C
* 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
Production
The opening "gangland" dream sequence was filmed in Los Angeles, with all other scenes filmed in Manchester, London, and Staines. Filming also took place at Manchester Town Hall between 31 May and 2 June 2001. When Ali references the Berkshire Massiv of Englefield Green in the film, this is actually in Surrey; the John Nike Leisure Centre is a real facility, though it is located several miles west of Staines in Bracknell.
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. It was given a limited theatrical release in the United States. On September 5, 2003, the film was released on a few screens in Austin, Texas.[https://www.newspapers.com/image/356953736 5 Sep 2003, 59 - Austin American-Statesman at Newspapers.com]
The film was released via DVD in the UK on 11 November 2002, and in the US and Canada on 2 November 2004. The DVD version has been modified from the original UK cinema version. In the original cut, the film opens with Ali appearing over the BBFC Certificate and changes the categorisation from 15 to 18. He goes on to warn about the dangers of having sex in the back row of the cinema (coming into contact with other people's semen on the seats) and to suggest that the audience's enjoyment will be enhanced by smoking cannabis. This 30-second introduction is missing from all international cinema releases and all current home video releases.
Reception
Commercial performance
The film grossed a total of 17.2 million on a budget of 5 million.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. On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 46 out of 100 based on 9 critic reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews". 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 'Brno'. While some hailed it as a successful low culture comedy,[http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/search/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1472717 Hollywood Reporter.com] 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.
References
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