Themes: Unlikely Heroes, Heads of State, On the Campaign Trail
Main Cast: Sacha Baron Cohen, Sacha Baron Cohen, Michael Gambon
Release Year: 2002
Country: UK
Run Time: 88 minutes
Plot
Britain's satirist-of-all-trades Ali G (aka Sacha Baron Cohen) makes his feature-film debut with this gross-out comedy set against the backdrop of the House of Parliament. Where his British and U.S. TV shows had him conducting absurd interviews with real-life politicians and lawmakers, Ali G Indahouse casts him against Charles Dance as Carlton, an unscrupulous member of the House who's intent on upsetting the current Prime Minister (Michael Gambon) in the next election. Hoping to attract negative attention to the leader, Ali G is promoted as a running mate of sorts -- a tactic that backfires in Carlton's face as the clueless rapper quickly ascends the political ladder. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
Review
Four years before Borat made Sacha Baron Cohen a household name, the creator of Da Ali G Show took an altogether different approach to bringing his characters to the big screen. Ali G Indahouse transplants its titular faux-B-boy protagonist from the mockumentary world of the television show into a jokey plot that veers from the London suburbs to the House of Commons. The result is closer to a joke-a-minute Leslie Nielsen outing than to the high-concept guerilla theater of Borat. But for those willing to accept the limitations of the genre, Ali G Indahouse is a perfectly enjoyable stoner comedy. The script is at its best when it's deconstructing the character of Ali G, a middle-class wannabe who wears hip-hop affectations like mix-and-match Garanimals. The opening scene -- a ridiculously over-the-top gangsta dream sequence featuring the most memorable prosthetic genitals this side of Boogie Nights -- earns enough comedy goodwill for audiences to forgive the fussy plot mechanics that sometimes slow down the rest of the picture. Then again, even the script's conventional elements generate considerable laughs. Throwaway bits of dialogue add fresh surprises to repeat viewings, while crass sight gags anticipate the most gross-out moments of Borat. Viewed on its own terms, rather than through the lens of its successor's success, it's hard not to like this low-key grab-bag of gags. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
Annie Hardinge - Costume Designer, Mark Mylod - Director, Paul Knight - Editor, Natascha Wharton - Executive Producer, Sacha Baron Cohen - Executive Producer, Anni Buchanan - Makeup, Grenville Horner - Production Designer, Jon Billington - Production Designer, Ashley Rowe - Cinematographer, Tim Bevan - Producer, Eric Fellner - Producer, Dan Mazer - Producer, William Green - Producer, Sacha Baron Cohen - Screenwriter, Dan Mazer - Screenwriter, Keith Sweat - Featured Music, Shaggy - Featured Music, Adam F. - Featured Music
Ali G is the leader of Da West Staines Massiv, a fictional gang composed of a group of wannabe gangsters from Staines (a small suburban town to the west of London); their chief rivals are Da East Staines Massiv. Ali and Da West Staines Massiv are heartbroken to learn that their beloved local leisure centre (where they like to chill out and also where Ali teaches his "Keep it Real" classes) will be demolished by the local council. Ali and his friends decide to protest this injustice. After he goes on a hunger strike and is spotted chained to some railings by the nefarious Deputy Prime Minister David Carlton (played by Charles Dance), he is drawn into a world of seedy political intrigue, as the Deputy Prime Minister tries to use Ali as a tool to destroy the Prime Minister's credibility. Ali is put forward as a candidate to be the next MP for Staines in a crucial by-election and manages to alienate most who cross his path, including feminists and the elderly. During a debate with his rival candidate, Ali tries to insult his rival by claiming that he "sucked off a horse". Unknown to Ali and the public, it turns out that the rival did indeed do such a thing, and trying to explain it away, he claims when he was out hunting with a friend he slipped, and his mouth landed on a horse's penis, which due to the mating season was erect. Ali then wins.
Although originally seeming out of his depth as an M.P, Ali's bizarre behaviour and solutions seem to actually work. He visits a Customs checkpoint in Dover, as a delegate compiling a report (though all he does is steal confiscated pornos and drugs). Through ideas such as making more "relatable" education and selectively ensuring the immigration of attractive (or "fit") women into England, Ali becomes incredibly popular, meeting the Prime Minister's intentions and bringing his percentage lead in the polls up 22 percent. With this the PM offers to save Ali's leisure centre. first though, Ali accompanies the PM to a UN peace conference, where one African country and a neighbouring country are going to war. The USA and Russia back opposite countries and both threaten nuclear attacks. It gets to the point where World War III is almost declared when Ali sneaks into the catering area and puts an entire bag of marijuana which he had stolen from Customs earlier, into the delegates' tea and orders that they be served it right away. He throws the empty bag into a nearby trash can. Also, the two opposing African presidents become friends. The PM says that Ali has saved the world. However, Carltons secretary Kate Hedges figures out what Ali has done and retrieves the empty marijuana bag (which has "Ali's stash. DO NOT NICK" written on the back), which she mails to the press. On return to England Ali is forced to leave parliament.
Before the Leisure Centre can be saved, a video emerges of Ali and his girlfriend having sex in the PM's bedroom at Chequers. As Ali was wearing items of the PM's clothing at the time the media believe the video details the PM with a prostitute, forcing his resignation. This results in deputy PM David Carlton being made PM. Carlton, who despises Ali and orders the destruction of the aforementioned leisure centre. After turning down an offer to have sex with Kate Hedges, in exchange for "keeping his mouth shut" about the videotape, Ali and the West Staines Massiv must race against time to find the master copy of the CCTV tape proving the former PM's innocence, extending the olive branch to all the gangs all over Staines and Berkshire (even to the East Staines Massiv) to help them break into the vaults and retrieve the said tape.
They do this successfully and manage to reinstate the original PM, save the leisure centre and all live happily ever after when Ali is posted as the British ambassador to Jamaica.
This film features one of Baron Cohen's other characters, Borat, in a meeting with Ali G, where a double was used for different shots.
On March 18, 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 was a pirate radio broadcast on Ali's "Drive By FM." It was an enhanced CD, featuring the music video for "Me Julie."
