View source for Ali G Indahouse

{{short description|2002 comedy film directed by Mark Mylod}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Ali G Indahouse
| image          = Ali G Indahouse.jpg
| alt            = 
| caption        = Cinema release poster
| director       = [[Mark Mylod]]
| writer         = {{Plainlist|
* [[Sacha Baron Cohen]]
* [[Dan Mazer]]
}}
| producer       = {{Plainlist|
* [[Tim Bevan]]
* [[Eric Fellner]]
* Dan Mazer
}}
| starring       = {{plainlist|
* Sacha Baron Cohen
* [[Michael Gambon]]
* [[Charles Dance]]
* [[Kellie Bright]]
* [[Martin Freeman]]
* [[Rhona Mitra]]
* [[Barbara New]]
}}
| cinematography = Ashley Rowe
| editing        = Paul Knight
| music          = [[Adam F]]
| production_companies = {{Plainlist|
* [[Working Title Films]]
* [[StudioCanal]]
* [[Working Title Films#WT2 Productions|WT<sup>2</sup> Productions]]
* [[Talkback Productions]]}}
| distributor    = [[Universal Pictures]]<br>(Worldwide)<br>[[Mars Distribution]]<br>(France)
| released       = {{Film date|df=y|2002|03|22|United Kingdom|2002|09|05|Germany|2002|12|25|France|2004|11|02|United States}}
| runtime        = 88 minutes<!--Theatrical runtime: 88:02-->
| country        = United Kingdom<ref name="bfi">{{cite web | url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/film/ea20e513-6550-55a2-a966-bcba52bb7b16/ali-g-indahouse | title=Ali G Indahouse (2002) | publisher=[[British Film Institute]] | access-date=March 29, 2025}}</ref><br>France<ref name="bfi" /><br>Germany<ref name="bfi" /><br>United States<ref name="bfi" />
| language       = English
| budget         = £5 million
| gross          = £17.2 million
}}
'''''Ali G Indahouse''''' is a 2002 British [[Comedy film|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]]''. An international co-production between the [[Cinema of the United Kingdom|United Kingdom]], [[Cinema of France|France]], [[Cinema of Germany|Germany]] and the [[Cinema of the United States|United States]], it is the first of four films based on Baron Cohen's characters from ''Da Ali G Show'', followed by ''[[Borat]]'' (2006), ''[[Brüno]]'' (2009), and ''[[Borat Subsequent Moviefilm]]'' (2020). It is 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-upon-Thames|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 also teaches an after-school club, 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 of the United Kingdom|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 [[Member of parliament|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 "[[Bestiality|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, where he invites the West Staines Massiv under the guise of experts to consume the confiscated drugs and pornography in the evidence room, and through strategies such as making education more relatable and ensuring the immigration of attractive women into the country, Ali becomes 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 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 (drug)|cannabis]] acquired during the customs visit, 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 orders the destruction of the leisure centre. He 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 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 dance for Ali's amusement.

==Cast==
{{div col}}
* [[Sacha Baron Cohen]] as [[Ali G]]/[[Borat Sagdiyev]]
* [[Michael Gambon]] as the [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Prime Minister]]
* [[Charles Dance]] as Deputy Prime Minister David Carlton
* [[Kellie Bright]] as “Me Julie”
* [[Martin Freeman]] as Richard “Ricky C” Cunningham
* [[Rhona Mitra]] as Kate Hedges
* [[Barbara New]] as Ali's Nan
* [[Ray Panthaki]] as Hassan B
* [[Emilio Rivera]] as Rico
* [[Paul Clayton (actor)|Paul Clayton]] as Alan Swan Lake
* [[Olegar Fedoro]] as Russian Minister
* [[Tony Way]] as Dave
* [[Eileen Essell]] as Mrs. Hugh
* [[Daniela Lavender|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
* [[Rudolph Walker]] as President Mwepu
{{div col end}}

==Production==
===Filming===
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 called Willesden Sports Centre, which was subsequently knocked down with a new leisure centre built in its place.
===Soundtrack===
{{Main|Ali G Indahouse Da 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".

==Release and reception==
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.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0284837/releaseinfo | title=Ali G Indahouse (2002) – Release dates | work=[[Internet Movie Database]] | publisher=[[Amazon.com]] | access-date=23 January 2015}}</ref> It was given a limited theatrical release in the United States;  the film was released on a few screens in [[Austin, Texas]] On September 5, 2003,<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/image/356953736 5 Sep 2003, 59 – Austin American-Statesman at Newspapers.com<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> but Universal had not reported the US box office result.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/2002/0AGIH.php |title=Ali G Indahouse&nbsp;– Box Office Data, Movie News, Cast Information |publisher=The Numbers |access-date=2011-04-20}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/News_Story/Critic_Review/Observer_review/0,,672945,00.html |title=Ali G Indahouse |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=24 March 2002 |access-date=26 June 2015}}</ref> This 30-second introduction is missing from all international cinema releases and all current home video releases.

===Commercial performance===
The film grossed a total of £17.2 million on a budget of £5 million.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/2002/0AGIH.php |title=Ali G Indahouse&nbsp;– Box Office Data, Movie News, Cast Information |publisher=The Numbers |access-date=2011-04-20}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://bbfc.co.uk/releases/ali-g-indahouse-7 | archive-url=https://archive.today/20150124215921/http://bbfc.co.uk/releases/ali-g-indahouse-7 | url-status=dead | archive-date=24 January 2015 | title=''Ali G Indahouse'' (15) | work=[[British Board of Film Classification]] | date=7 March 2002 | access-date=23 January 2015}}</ref>

===Critical response===
The film received mixed reviews. The review aggregator website [[Rotten Tomatoes]] reported that 59% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 17 reviews, with an average rating of 5.16/10.<ref>{{cite web|title=Ali G Indahouse (2004)|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/ali-g-indahouse-the-movie|access-date=30 May 2025|website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]]|publisher=[[Fandango Media|Fandango]]}}</ref> On [[Metacritic]], the film has a weighted average score of 46 out of 100 based on 9 critic reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".<ref>{{cite web|title=Ali G Indahouse Reviews|url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/ali-g-indahouse|access-date=27 October 2020|website=[[Metacritic]]|publisher=[[CBS Interactive]]}}</ref> 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]]'' (2006) and ''[[Brüno]]'' (2009). While some hailed it as a successful [[low culture]] comedy,<ref>[http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/search/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1472717 Hollywood Reporter.com] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061214032546/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/search/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1472717|date=14 December 2006}}</ref> it inspired little of the strong fan enthusiasm associated with ''[[Da Ali G Show]]'' and ''Borat''.

===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.<ref>{{cite news|title=Staines becomes Staines-upon-Thames to shake off Ali G link|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-surrey-18118309|work=BBC News|date=20 May 2012|access-date=9 May 2013}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
* {{IMDb title|0284837|Ali G Indahouse}}
* {{rotten-tomatoes|ali-g-indahouse-the-movie|Ali G Indahouse}}
* [https://www.newspapers.com/image/356953736]

{{Sacha Baron Cohen}}
{{Mark Mylod}}
{{Cannabis in the United Kingdom}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ali G Indahouse}}
[[Category:2002 films]]
[[Category:2000s satirical films]]
[[Category:British satirical films]]
[[Category:2000s French-language films]]
[[Category:2000s Spanish-language films]]
[[Category:Films based on television series]]
[[Category:British films about cannabis]]
[[Category:Films directed by Mark Mylod]]
[[Category:Films set in London]]
[[Category:Films set in Surrey]]
[[Category:Films shot in Greater Manchester]]
[[Category:Films shot in London]]
[[Category:Films shot in Los Angeles]]
[[Category:Films shot in Surrey]]
[[Category:Hood comedy films]]
[[Category:Films produced by Eric Fellner]]
[[Category:Films produced by Tim Bevan]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Sacha Baron Cohen]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Dan Mazer]]
[[Category:Staines-upon-Thames]]
[[Category:StudioCanal films]]
[[Category:Working Title Films films]]
[[Category:2000s hip-hop films]]
[[Category:2002 directorial debut films]]
[[Category:2000s English-language films]]
[[Category:2000s British films]]
[[Category:Da Ali G Show|Indahouse]]
[[Category:English-language musical films]]
[[Category:2002 musical films]]