BRUNO (2009)
Reviewed by Jerry Saravia
"Bruno" is the kind of movie that leaves you in stitches and in an uneasy discomfort. It is the also the kind of movie that makes you say, "He really didn't do that, did he?" I don't know how much longer Sacha Baron Cohen can keep up the charade of fooling people into saying things they might not otherwise say or do when he and a camera are present, but I can guess that "Bruno," a mockumentary full of tomfoolery and general bad behavior, will not be forgotten and may gain some sort of cult status.
Bruno is the most flamboyant fashion reporter you'll ever see. He's an Austrian reporter who is fired for reducing Fashion Week to chaos when he arrives with a velcro-suit (the scene is already something of a classic). After the firing, he goes to L.A. in the hopes of becoming a celebrity reporter. His idea for a new show is to interview stars like Harrison Ford interspersed with clips of his swinging penis (the interview with an angry Ford is short and hilarious). He also interviews Paula Abdul who has to sit on a Mexican worker and eat sushi off of a naked man! The show is clearly too outrageous and receives negative feedback. Next step for Bruno is to adopt an African baby ("black gold!") since all the celebrities do this to allegedly garner attention. He appears on "The Richard Bey Show" and tells an African-American audience that he will name his baby "O.J."
"Bruno" is not for the faint-hearted or the squeamish or those who don't like to be challenged by their own purported homophobia. If you loved "Borat," "Bruno" might be a tougher sell for those who are not fond of homophobic jokes or very brief close-ups of penises, or the gyrating and humping that briefly occurs between two gay men using various tools in various compromising positions. But if you are easily taken aback, you'll miss just how much hilarity ensues. "Bruno" is not standard comedy fare or even standard mockumentary fare. What creator and lead actor Sacha Baron Cohen has done is to act as outrageously as possible with the most garish of homosexual stereotypes and set up those he interviews who let their guard down and utter homophobic remarks. Best and one of the funniest examples is when Ron Paul (a one-time 2008 Republican presidential candidate) finds himself in a room with candles and Bruno stripped down to his undies! Paul makes the "queer" remark, though he doesn't know he has been punked.
What you will find in "Bruno" is a mixture of truly outrageous and bawdy behavior. There is a swingers party sequence that is almost as funny as anything in "Borat", including a vixen hitting Bruno with a belt; Bruno trying to make the distinction between Hamas and hummus; a pray-the-gay away conversion that is probably more honest than what we saw in Bill Maher's "Religulous," and a hotel crew that doesn't want to find a key to unlock the chained Bruno and his gay lover in bed. But the capper is Bruno as the converted "Straight Dave" who is locked in a cage with his former lover in front of an audience of 1500 Southerners! That is like putting Mel Gibson (Whom Bruno calls Der Fuhrer) on a cross in a Jewish synagogue - pure trouble ahead.
I appreciate Cohen and his films, but I think audiences didn't quite catch on with the underlying subtext. Borat was a Russian stereotype with a big moustache ("Hey, I like you") who demonstrated naivete about Americans' way of life and made racist comments, thus allowing those around him to lower their guard and let out their inner racist hearts. With Bruno, Cohen is not having a gay stereotype make homophobic remarks - rather, Bruno merely taunts others and they just happen to let go of their inner homophobia. The context has changed, and the results are the same. "Bruno" is a wild, manic ride of a movie, too insanely high-pitched and too idiosyncratic for mainstream audiences. Still, for good laughs that hit below the belt and strike true notes, you can't do better than "Bruno." It is fabulous, but not for everyone.
