Ali G Indahouse

Mark Mylod's Ali G Indahouse opened in 2002 as the cinematic spin-off of Sacha Baron Cohen's Da Ali G Show character — the dim-witted Staines wannabe-gangster who had built his television fame interviewing real politicians and celebrities under the pretence that he was a serious youth-culture journalist. The film was a co-production between WT2 (Working Title's lower-budget arm) and FilmFour, and made Baron Cohen a viable feature-film lead, paving the way for Borat three years later.

The cast pairs Baron Cohen with Michael Gambon as the well-meaning Prime Minister, Charles Dance as the deputy PM in deliciously Machiavellian mode, Kellie Bright as Ali's girlfriend Julie, Martin Freeman as his manager Ricky C, and Rhona Mitra and Barbara New in support. The screenplay is by Baron Cohen with Dan Mazer — Mazer would continue as Baron Cohen's regular co-writer through Borat, Brüno and The Dictator — and Mark Mylod, the British television director (The Royle Family, later Succession and Game of Thrones) here making his feature debut.

The film operates as both broad comedy and a sustained satire of New Labour's relationship with youth-culture appropriation. Baron Cohen's commitment to the character — staying in voice for press tours, writing screenplay material in Ali's broken syntax — produced one of the more disciplined performance-character cinema acts of its decade. The film's comic register has dated unevenly; specific sequences have aged into difficulty, but the central Ali-G monologue style remains a touchstone of British screen comedy.