Sacha Baron Cohen is having a bit of a streaming spotlight moment right now, with two very different film projects that are both drawing attention to the English actor and expert farceur. He appears as Abbie Hoffman, the flower-power Yippie leader and social activist, in Aaron Sorkin’s “The Trial of the Chicago 7,” which details the events that led to rioting at the 1968 Democratic National Convention. It is available on Netflix and has brought him an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor.
The other is the now-notorious sequel “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm,” which can be found on Amazon Prime Video. He reprises his guise as Borat Sagdiyev, a Kazakhstani news reporter who found fame and a prison sentence in his homeland for the past 14 years since his first mock-doc. Right now, the notorious randy antics of a gullible Rudy Giuliani are overshadowing Baron Cohen’s return to a U.S. that is under the divisive reign of Donald Trump while in the midst of a coronavirus pandemic. He has once again received a screenplay nomination at the Oscars.
This prankster is best known for tricking notable individuals into revealing their true and often embarrassing natures with his two TV series, “Da Ali G Show” that ran on HBO as well as Showtime’s “Who is America?” As The Observer newspaper has rightly said of this mad genius, “His career has been built on winding people up, while keeping a deadpan face.”
However, Baron Cohen also has shown legit acting chops in a number of big-screen vehicles, including an ability to carry a tune. Here are his best 12 films in our photo gallery, ranked worst to best, including “Hugo,” “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” and “Les Miserables.”
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12. “The Brothers Grimsby” (2016)
Image Credit: Courtesy Image Laughs are intermittent at best in this lowbrow spy spoof as Baron Cohen, who also co-wrote the script, stars as the none-too-bright Nobby, who lives in a English fishing town with his devoted girlfriend (Rebel Wilson) and their nine children. For years, he has been looking for his brother Sebastian (Mark Strong). Turns out he is an MI16 agent who has stumbles on an evil plot. He ends up counting on his daft sibling to help save the world and prove his innocence. Unlike Borat, this character is more irritating than anything else. Consider that these siblings on the run hide inside an elephant’s vagina to evade the baddies as another elephant wants to engage in sexy time. There are splatters of chuckle-out-loud shock-humor but not quite enough.
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11. “Alice Through the Looking Glass” (2016)
Image Credit: Walt Disney Pictures The sequel to Tim Burton’s live-action “Alice in Wonderland” from 2010, which grossed more than $1 billion globally failed to follow in its predecessor’s box-office footsteps. Part of the problem was a different auteur in the director’s chair. Namely, James Bobin, a Brit who was a writer-director for Baron Cohen’s TV series, “Da Ali G Show.” That was how the actor was recruited to play Time, a half-human, half-clock riff on the Wizard of Oz who frantically controls the nature of eternity while chasing after Mia Wasikowska’s Alice. Ty Burr of The Boston Globe spoke for many when he described the sequel as “gaudy, loud, complacent and vulgar.”
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10. “Madagascar” (2005)
Image Credit: DreamWorks Pictures In this computer-animated feature, a quartet of caged animal’s in the Central Park Zoo — namely Alex the lion (voiced by Ben Stiller), Marty the Zebra (Chris Rock), Melman the Giraffe (David Schwimmer) and Gloria the Hippo (Jada Pinkett) — are itching to see the rest of the world. With the aid of four delusional penguins who behave as if they are in a prison-escape thriller, they eventually wash up on a remote beach in the titular island country and must fend for themselves in the wild. The primate foursome get upstaged not just get by their black-and-white flipper-footed buddies. But Baron Cohen also proves to be a scene stealer as King Julien XIII, a ring-tailed lemur with a Euro-trash accent who is the leader of his species. The screen trul lights up as the hard-partying, crowd-surfing royal sings the catchy song, “I Like to Move It,” while his big-eyed minions bop about in ecstasy. King Julien would also show up in two sequels, 2008’s “Madagascar: Escape to Africa” and 2012’s Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted.”
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9. “The Dictator” (2012)
Image Credit: Melinda Sue Gordon This political satire written by and starring Baron Cohen is directed by Larry Charles. His Admiral-General Aladeen is a dictator of the fictional North African country of Wadiyar. He is a composite of such real-life tyrants such as Kim Jong-Il, Idi Amin, Muammar Gaddafi, Mobutu Sese Seko and Saparmurat Niyazov. Aladeen is childish, sexist, anti-Western and anti-Semitic dictator who prefers female bodyguards and is developing a nuclear arsenal to attack Israel. When his presence is requested by United Nations Security Council, he heads to the Big Apple. Once there, he ends up being kidnapped by a hitman hired by his uncle (Ben Kingsley) and eventually meets Zoey (Anna Faris) a human rights activist he eventually marries and vows to democratize his oppressed country. Critics were mixed while comparing it to a low-brow version of the Marx Brothers’ “Duck Soup” and Charlie Chaplin’s “The Great Dictator.”
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8. “Bruno” (2009)
Image Credit: Courtesy of Universal Pictures This spin-off of “Da Ali G Show” features a gay Austrian fashion journalist named Bruno Gehard played by Baron Cohen. After being blacklisted after crashing a runway event, the over-the-top fashionista goes to the United States in the hopes of launching a celebrity interview show. Directed by Larry Charles, Bruno is desperate to become a global celebrity as seen in an array of skits. Front and center of this mock-documentary is his flaunting of his male member or perhaps a penis double. The film concludes with a musical montage of Sting, Bono and Elton John who join Bruno in a sing-along. The puerile humor on screen will either make you squirm or make you embarrassed. Crude and rude humor is Baron Cohen’s calling card and it is on full display. As his character says, “I am going to be the biggest Austrian celebrity since Hitler.”
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7. “Les Miserables” (2012)
Image Credit: Courtesy of Universal Pictures This period musical directed by Tom Hooper is based on the 1892 novel of the same name by Victor Hugo, which takes place in early 19th-century France during the June Rebellion of 1832. The main character is Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman), who is relentlessly pursued by the policeman Javert (Russell Crowe) after he breaks parole. He becomes a respected factory owner and the mayor of a city. Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter are the greedy innkeepers the Thenardiers who are paid by the prostitute Fantine (Anne Hathaway) to shelter her illegitimate daughter Cosette (Amanda Seyfried). The songs from the musical were sung live by the cast. That includes Baron Cohen and Bonham Carter’s bawdy duet “Master of the House.” The film was nominated for eight Oscars, including Best Picture. Hathaway earned a supporting actress trophy while below-the-line talent won for costumes and sound mixing.
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6. “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby” (2006)
Image Credit: Courtesy of Sony Pictures This sports comedy directed by Adam McKay stars Will Ferrell as North Carolina NASCAR racer Ricky Bobby, who was born in the backseat of a racing car. His motto? “If you ain’t first, you’re last.” As part of a pit crew, he gets his chance to race. Standing in his way is a flamboyant rival on his team, an openly gay and self-righteous French Formula One driver Jean Girard (Sasha Baron Cohen, whose ooh-la-la accent is as rich as baked brie) and has Perrier as one of his sponsors. His success puts the brakes on Bobby’s hot streak who eventually stages a comeback. According to the critics at the time, the English actor also upstaged Ferrell on the screen as well.
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5. “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” (2020)
Image Credit: Courtesy of Amazon Studios Baron Cohen filmed this sequel to his 2006 faux documentary in secret during the coronavirus pandemic with the hope of releasing it before the presidential election. The premise has his character delivering his 15-year-old feral daughter Tutar (played by 24-year-old Bulgarian-born breakout Maria Bakalova), whose very presence provides a pleasant contrast to the more cringe-inducing lurid stunts. She is meant as a gift for Vice President Mike Pence to improve relations with Kazakhstan and the U.S. But first Tutar must be made over into the kind of blonde Barbie that would appeal to a MAGA man. Eventually, they end up at CPAC in Maryland as Baron Cohen first dons a KKK outfit. He then turns himself into Donald Trump with bodysuit and face mask while hoisting Bakalova over his shoulder before presenting her as a gift to Pence but they are quickly ejected. He also joins a right-wing gathering in Washington state and performs a racist country tune with lyrics about injecting Obama with the “Wuhan flu.” But the actor is smart enough to know that his best satirical weapon is his daughter. Her enlightenment arrives after she speaks to a Black woman, Jeanise Jones, who looks after her and reveals her father has been telling her lies. Yes, the Rudy Giuliani “gotcha” is the highlight. But the final line when the screen goes black says it all: “Now vote or you will be execute.”
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4. “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” (2007)
Image Credit: Courtesy of Paramount Pictures This Victorian-era slasher musical directed by Tim Burton and based on Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler’s Tony-winning 1979 Broadway show. Johnny Depp plays Todd, an English barber who murders his customers in retaliation for the rape and subsequent suicide of his wife at the hands of a corrupt judge. He is in cahoots with Mrs. Nellie Lovett (Helena Bonham Carter), who uses the corpses as filling in her meat pies. Baron Cohen plays Todd’s preening faux- Italian barber Adolfo Pirelli while sporting the ripest accent since Chico Marx. Eventually, Todd demeans his hair tonic as a fraud and beats him in a public shaving contest. It turns out Pirelli is Todd’s former assistant who is trying to blackmail him. He is slain and put in a trunk. In a typical touch, Baron Cohen – who mostly rapped his song “The Contest,” stuffed extra padding in his groin area according to Oscar-nominated costume designer Colleen Atwood. Depp received a Best Actor nomination and the production won an art direction trophy.
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3. “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America to Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan” (2006)
Image Credit: Courtesy Image “High five!” “Wa-wa-wee-wa!” “Nice!” The first time that Borat landed on our shores, he fell for Pamela Anderson after watching “Baywatch” and decides to find her in California by driving across the U.S. in a dilapidated ice-cream truck. Along the way, chaos reigns and pranks are played on unsuspecting citizens, including participants in a gay pride parade, young African-Americans and disrupt a weather report at a local TV station. At a rodeo, he upsets the crowd by his native national anthem to the tune of “The Star-Spangled Banner.” His pranks escalate from there including an insane nude brawl with his producer, Azamat, over his lady love Anderson. Eventually, he hitch-hikes to Hollywood and comes face to face with her at a book signing at a Virgin Megastore. The movie earned Baron Cohen his lone Oscar nomination as a co-writer of the adapted screenplay.
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2. “The Trial of the Chicago 7” (2020)
Image Credit: Courtesy Image This timely re-creation of the legal case against male protesters who were charged with conspiracy and inciting riots against the police during the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Baron Cohen’s performance as rabble-rousing anti- Vietnam War activist Abbie Hoffman has notably been described as stand-out. As seen in Aaron Sorkin’s courtroom drama, the actor brings out the Yippie leader’s jester-like personality while disdaining decorum and getting under the skin of the incompetent presiding judge Julius Hoffman (a top-notch Frank Langella) by noting they are definitely not related. As critic Charlotte O’Sullivan notes that he “steals the show” and describes his take on Hoffman “a droll cross between Krusty the Clown, Bart Simpson and Milhouse Van Houten.” She also asserts he is charming enough on screen to qualify as a Best Supporting Actor candidate come Oscar time.
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1. “Hugo” (2011)
Image Credit: Courtesy Image Martin Scorsese’s first film shot in 3-D is based on a book about a young boy named Hugo (Asa Butterfield) who finds shelter in a Parisian railway station in the 1930s. He becomes involved in a mystery about his late father’s automaton and the pioneering filmmaker Georges Melies (Ben Kingsley). After his alcoholic uncle goes missing, he takes over his task of maintaining the station’s clock while avoiding being caught by the glowering station inspector Gustave Daste (Baron Cohen, who adds welcome comical slapstick to the proceedings). But his character becomes a hero after Daste saves Hugo after the boy and his automaton fall onto the tracks. “Hugo” collected 11 Academy Award nominations — the most that year, including Best Picture – and won five: cinematography, art direction, sound mixing, sound editing and special effects.
