Ryan McNeil
Sacha Baron-Cohen had one more kick at the can. One character left that he could unleash on unassuming masses, and draw them into squirm-inducing answers. After burning through Ali G, and Borat in previous movies, only Brüno was left to raise hell and specifically target the homophobic. After Brüno, the man would finally be out of characters.
You didn’t really think he was going to go away quietly, did you?
Brüno (Sacha Baron Cohen) hosts a fashion television program named Funkyzeit. It’s the highest rated style show in all German speaking nations…except Germany. It’s the sort of mindless style program that debates which diseases are “in” or “out” (Autism is in…’case you were curious). During one particularly disruptive trip to Milan Fashion Week, he finds himself blackballed in the style community. Worse yet, he is fired from Funkyzeit.
Downhearted, dumped, and jobless, he decides his best bet is to start anew in America. He journeys to Los Angeles in an attempt to become a celebrity…or get his own show…or both. Essentially, Brüno believes that you aren’t anyone in this world if you aren’t famous, and he’s willing to do whatever it takes to make sure that as many people as possible know his name.
Brüno is one funny movie, but overall it feels a bit spotty. There are moments of real muscle, especially in scenes where Brüno shines a bright glaring light on some misguided, or outright hateful, homophobia in America. Likewise there’s a scene where he goes to a swingers party – supposedly the den of some tremendously sexually liberated people. Strangely, even these randy folks aren’t above gay-bashing.
Unfortunately, the movie isn’t eighty minutes of holding a mirror up to society. No, the homophobia is brought to a screeching halt on more than one occasion, by some outlandish nudity and gay frolicking. This is especially counterproductive, since the audience stops laughing with the homosexuals, and instead start laughing at them. The movie tries to play it all for absurdity, but for me it seemed to derail the point of the movie. It takes a surgical strike and turns it into shock-and-awe.
I do have one problem with the character of Brüno. As Borat, Sacha Baron-Cohen tries to lure unsuspecting interviewees into racist remarks and behavior – often of the anti-semetic nature. His theory is that if you give someone enough rope, they’ll quite often hang themselves. However, what makes this more clever than hurtful, is that Baron-Cohen himself is Jewish. On the other hand, Baron-Cohen is not homosexual, which has to leave me wondering if the homophobia he stirs up as Brüno isn’t crossing a line.
BRÜNO works not only as a reminder of how truly homophobic some people really are, but likewise as a testament of just how unassuming our culture has become. Say what you will about Baron-Cohen suckering his subjects into unfair situations. The fact remains that far too often, people don’t have enough common sense to stop and say either “This is wrong” or “This can’t possibly be real”. It’s become the media math of the new millennium – stick a mic in someone’s face and the odds of them replying with real intelligence drops exponentially with the amount of time they continue to talk.
Ultimately the movie succeeds, but it is not without its flaws. Looking at the whole character of Brüno, I’m left feeling that he’s more effective in short five minute bits, as opposed to carrying an eighty minute feature.I While the film amuses and does indeed prove its point, it relies too heavily on dick jokes and butt-fucking to ultimately rise to its lofty goal.
Perhaps you may be expecting to much of Cohen, hoping him to be a crusader for gay rights and against homophobia. But I believe that he sees his goal first and foremost as that of being an entertainer and a comedian, more than a social activist, and he has no sacred cows, isn't above laughing at outlandish gay pop culture and at homophobes. I haven't yet seen the movie, but it's my suspicion based on his earlier work and the clips I've seen so far.
@ mijopo… Perhaps mijopo. To be fair, the movie is funny and entertaining, and I did like it (hence the 2.5 stars). The best part of the movie, which I didn't even mention in the review, is the final scene – which is a perfectr mix of shock and social relevence.
Very good and informative review Mad Hatter. I just saw this film the other day and my friend is working on a review for it, but I liked it. Id probably give it a B- and give Borat a B+. I thought Borat was generally the better film and alot more funnier, but I didn't think Bruno was bad as some might have said. Maybe because I didn't walk into this movie think I was going to see Borat 2. Their both different characters with different views on news. I still give props to Cohen for doing some of the shit he did for this film. I was laughing and was also left shocked during the part where he tells that terrorist leader hes a dirty wizard, lol.
Your point about 3 vs. 80 minutes is a really good one. Though I gave what amounts to a 2/5 review, I do think that there were good stretches and some great ideas interspersed in Brüno…but not nearly enough for a feature, especially since the not as funny parts weren't strong enough to tie the rest of it together. It might have worked as a series of unrelated sketches, though…
@ Farzan… Completely agree with you that it's worth checking out, and note nearly as bad as they say. I think people were looking for BORAT 2 – which this wasn't designed to be.
@ Fletch… Thinking back, it almost feels as though the situations were hatched up, and then everybody sat down and tried to come up with an overall narrative to string them together. Pity – could have been much better. (Welcome back btw)