ALMOST ROYAL

*** (out of ****)

Almost ten years after its release, Borat still has such a grip on its (very) specific genre that it’s still hard to release anything that recalls it. That genre, of course, is “comedies where improvising character actors trick everyday folk into thinking that the actors are not in fact actors but real people just like themselves.” This maybe like saying “it’s hard to release a sci-fi movie with a character named Darth Vader and not get compared to Star Wars,” but this isn’t a genre that Sacha Baron Cohen invented. Perfected? Maybe. Modernized? Definitely. So what does this mean for future entries of the genre?

Almost Royal is a BBC America original that follows the 50th and 51st in line for the English crown. Any dumbfuck can be in line for the crown as long as they have the right blood, as opposed to the democratic ways of the United States, where that dumbfuck has to instead have the right money. These particular two dumbfuck are Brittain’s version of celebutantes: selfish, snobby pricks who are famous only because they are royal. Georgie and Poppy’s father’s last wish was that they tour the United States. After he dies, the brother and sister pair, along with a camera crew to mockument their travels, board a plane for the great wide mystery that is the United States. They start in Los Angeles, where they meet Fabio in a grocery store and try out for a soap opera. So far, so America.
The actors who portray Georgie and Poppy aren’t without their skills and charm. They’re quick on their feet, and they’re both able to keep a straight face, even when the normal folk can’t, failing to hide their incredulousness at these blue-blooded bumpkins. Almost Royal, given the premise, is about as funny as it needs to be. Some of the scenes work better than others, almost like it’s a skit show, but they seem to do a pretty good job of editing out the fluff and keeping only the funniest moments. In the end, though, we’ve seen all of this before. Americans and Brits have their stereotypes, and it’s easy to point and laugh at them. Even with the upper hand of knowing that this in fact a mockumentary, Georgie and Poppy make sure to let Brittain have it as much as they give it to America but the show doesn’t seem to have much more on its mind than that, and that’s probably Borat’s fault. Is that fair? Probably not, but it does, once again, give us a chance to blame something on the Kazakhstanians.

– Ryan Haley