Bruno (Larry Charles, 2009)

Bruno

Brüno - Directed by Larry Charles, starring Sacha Baron Cohen - Rated R

Chigurh thought this one was funnier than Borat.




First off, let me get the quick version of this review out of the way: Brüno is just as good as Borat, if not better. In fact, in my opinion, it is the funnier of the two movies. So there you go: if you liked Borat, you'll probably like this. Now here's why.
Brüno is an Austrian homosexual fashion guru who falls out of favor in Europe and decides to come to America to become a celebrity. Not exactly like Borat, but close enough to say that the plot is basically the same in the whole fish out of water concept. In his journey, Brüno shocks normal people, embarrasses celebrities (Paula Abdul is ridiculed in a hilarious interview), incites rage, and, most of all, attempts to shock the audience. This all adds to up to absolute hilarity.
I wasn't expecting the film to be this funny, though. I wasn't sure if I would even like the main character enough to find him funny. The whole "Vassup! I'm Brüno!" line from the previews was annoying (he thankfully uses it sparingly in the film) and I was afraid that this was going to be an 80 minute lecture aimed at stupid, intolerant Americans. While that element is there, this film is really more about laughs than social commentary. Besides, this movie isn't trying to change any one's mind because anyone who has an intense hatred for homosexuals won't watch it to begin with. And if they go to the movie unaware of what it's about, the graphic sex scenes and gratuitous male nudity in the first fifteen minutes will let them know that this movie is a bit too out there for them. So if the audience is already on Sacha Baron Cohen's side, what's the point of the commentary? We're just there to laugh at society with him.
And Brüno is an easy guy to enjoy the joke with. He's not as awkward and backward (that's not to say he's normal, though, just look at the clothes he wears in the previews) as Borat. He's not as clueless as Borat, either, which allows him to make fun of people rather than be manipulated by them. The Austrian accent and constant Nazi references (he refers to Brad Pitt as "Bradolf Pittler" and Mel Gibson as "mein führer") are hilarious and his wide-eyed stare in uncomfortable situations is priceless (like when asks if anyone wants a sandwich during a swinger's party). I found it easier to laugh with Cohen in this one. Borat might be easier to like, but Brüno is easier to laugh with.



I want to get into the social commentary aspect a bit more, since that is always what people talk about concerning Cohen's two films. The commentary is actually a bit lacking this time around. The whole film felt a bit more scripted, which is why I find it funnier. I don't need social commentary. It's not like I watched Borat, then had a revelation about anti-Semitism and ignorance in America. So I don't need Brüno to show me that southerners are intolerant of blatant homosexuals. It's just that Brüno is a radical homosexual, wearing ridiculous clothes and getting naked quite often. If you react angrily to that, that doesn't really mean you hate homosexuals. That means you don't want to a naked man touching you or even coming near you. But the failings of the social commentary don't detract from the film at all for me. If anything, it makes it better. If I want to hear about intolerance, I'll watch a real documentary. I watch Sacha Baron Cohen to laugh, not to contemplate America.

There is an element of social commentary that does work in this film, though. It concerns parents pimping their children out in the entertainment industry. Brüno holds a casting call for babies in which he asks the parents if their kids can lose weight, work with wasps, and operate antiquated machinery, among other things. The parents say yes to every request. The scenes are funny, and a little sickening. That says something about some people and their obsession with celebrity, which is actually the most effective point that this film makes.

There's not much else to say with about this film and I've honestly struggled to write this much about it. When it comes to comedies, I don't like to get into too much detail because it might ruin some of the jokes for some people. I do want to mention that some of the throwaway jokes in this film are absolutely hilarious. The little touches, like referring to Will Smith as Wilhelm Schmidt and the intro to his TV show in which the words "Black Guys" fill the screen, make this film funnier than Borat.

 I could go on, but it would just be full of spoilers. I can't stress how funny this movie is without ruining it. Just watch it, don't look for a dissertation on American culture, look for some great laughs. You won't be disappointed.

Eric Harris - www.canneltoncritic.com

BRUNO

Is Bruno numero uno?

Yes and no.

Accoring to preliminary reports, Sacha Baron Cohen's BRUNO is Number 1 at the box office this opening weekend much to the consternation of the Christian Film & Television Commission. Yes, good old Ted Baehr and his fellow inquisitors have anointed BRUNO the most "abhorrent" film of the year, calling it "mindlessly pornographic, politically correct paganism" and "worse than any decent human being can imagine." Hey, that sounds like my kind of film!

But, while BRUNO pushes more envelopes than the U. S. Post Office, most end up in the dead letter file thanks to a screenplay that is so shoddily constructed you would think Kaufman & Broad had written it. After a surprisingly slow start in Austria, the various contrived scenes go downhill faster than Franz Klammer on the Hahenkamm at Kitzbuehl. Things pick up, slightly, when the title character reaches Los Angeles, but even at a relatively short 82 minutes, Sacha's sashaying grew tiresome and I found myself longing for The Village People or Bruce Vilanch or Paul Lynde, even Topo Gigio.


There are a few bright moments, such as the segment at an Arkansas wrestling arena where the local red-necks, looking like Beluga whales in cheesy t-shirts, become mortified at the homo heat taking place in the rink between Bruno and his sycophant assistant, Lutz (played by Gustaf Hammarsten). And the clips from his appearance on The Richard Bey Show in Dallas, where he introduces his adopted black baby as "O.J." (claiming it is a traditional African name), is priceless. How Cohen manages to escape both the Pig Sooie state and Big D alive is beyond me. How he managed to escape the dreaded NC-17 rating is also perplexing. BRUNO may be rated R -- but it is a hard R, a virtual diamond-cutter of an R to be precise.

Yet, for every little comedic gem, there are several sequences that misfire as often as a Vanguard rocket. For someone who is Cambridge educated, how in the world did Sacha Baron Cohen think his Ron Paul interview was going to be funny? Wouldn't Senator Larry Craig have been a better choice? Even the much ballyhooed closing song featuring Baron singing his own unique version of "We Are The World" with such luminaries as Bono, Slash, Snoop Dog, Chris Martin, Sting and Elton John disappoints.


Unfortunately, BRUNO isn't anywhere near as entertaining or as funny as BORAT, and while BRUNO rules the box office this weekend, we predict ticket sales will nosedive like a Stuka once the word gets out. Wanna bet?

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Robert A. Nowotny

Brüno

Ja, this Bruno is more famous than that Bradoff Pittler Austrian Superstar!

One Word Review: GOOD

Brüno (from here on without das umlautten – just Bruno) is a Üniversal picture – now stop that – is a Universal picture starring Sacha Baron Cohen, of Borat fame and, although funny in parts, suffers in comparison to the breakthrough Kazakhstan reporter’s search for love. I happened to be in Hollywood when Borat was released and the buzz around town for that movie was amazing and positive. It also caught everyone by surprise, both by the box office biz and the “go for it” satire that Cohen delivered. This gay fashionista’s story about wanting fame is, in some ways, more daring and at the same time, more obviously staged to create a contrived “honest” reaction from the victims of Bruno’s relentlessly inept attempts at celebrity status.

The Story

The story is a familiar quest for fame, the American dream sold around the world. In this case, Austria and Bruno, having Velcro-smashed his way out of the fashion world and his job as host of a funky fashion TV show. Not taking this blow to his “career” as a set back, this gay Austrian flies to Los Angeles with his assistant’s assistant to be the most famous Austrian ever, “more famous than Hitler”. Armed with a camera like Borat, Bruno attempts to become famous by acting, hosting a talk show, sponsoring charity events, brokering world peace and going straight. Of course, all attempts fail and he becomes accidentally famous in a shocking macho caged fight scene which makes the news and allows him the opportunity to sponsor a “We Are The World”-type benefit song.

Of course, the story is only worthwhile if it can drive the intended satire of celebrity pretentiousness and the religion of fame, the sexual hang-ups of middle America and the general willingness of most everyone to grasp their 15 minutes of fame, even if it means getting liposuction to their six-year old.  Whereas this sandbagging of people to expose their bias and stereotyped attitudes was fresh the first time, it seems labored in this second film.

The Genre

The R-rated comedy satire is rare in Hollywood, difficult to do and rarely reaches a broad audience. The audience in my screening was young and hip, and sparse. This is a movie you rent in the privacy of your own home, if you are middle of the road. There is a queasy feel to the humor, not just the usual gross-out of recent R-rated fare put out by the Apatow factory. There is no one to root for or an engaging storyline like the hit, The Hangover.  This movie is all about “what the F**K did I just see?” and why.

The Overall Quality

MarketBOB left the theater unsure how to rate Bruno and it is a close call. Really bad movies are easy, as are really great ones with positive stories. Bruno ultimately rates a BULL call for the satire on fame and the stripping away of the “sell anything to anyone” motivation behind people’s behavior. These are powerful investor practices which, as you leave the theater, you take with you. I wandered into a Home Depot near the theater after watching Bruno and I didn’t buy a thing, but wandered the aisles thinking about how the store is designed to separate me from my money. I refused and left the store. It was then I realized Bruno was a BULL movie, because it makes you think about your own actions, the influence of your surroundings and the messages of desire and consumer lust you get from every damn place you look.

The MarketBOB GQS Score: BULL

For MarketBOB’s sentiment indicators, we have a satire story, extremes of quality and a genre which is emerging as a major force in audience preference. Bruno forces you to test your assumptions, muster up courage to try something new and never be comfortable with the status quo. You have to cut through the hype and never assume anything at face value, all good rules for successful investing. Although uneven, it has moments of brilliance like its predecessor which did well with markets, lifting them almost 3% in November, 2006.

BRÜNO

***½

The third feature built around a Sacha Baron Cohen alter ego isn’t at all consistent, coherent or even necessarily inspired. But it is resolutely fearless, boundary-breaking and outrageous in that best gut-busting way.

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Bruno

Starring:

Sacha Baron Cohen

Director: Larry Charles

Genre: Comedy

Rated: R

Sacha Baron Cohen is back, This time as Bruno the 3^rd character from his hit HBO program the Ali G Show. Bruno is an Austrian Fashionista who comes to America to become a world famous celebrity.

As the only character left from the Ali G show not to be featured in his own film and after the success of Borat It was just a matter of time before Bruno hit the big screen. After being kicked off his TV show “Funkyzeit Mit Bruno” for a horrible fashion show debacle featuring a Velcro suit, Bruno travels to Los Angeles to become famous.  From one failed attempt to the next Bruno continues to find new ways and unsuspecting people (not in on the joke) to try to make him super famous.  Bruno creates a TV pilot, He tries to find humanitarian causes, Adopt and African Child, Meet with preachers to become a straight man as well as try to get kidnapped by a terrorist for the fame he would garner by being featured on a hostage tape.

The depths that Baron Cohen goes as Bruno are astounding; he is a comedic genius with an ability to commit to character like no other. Bruno is One hour and 28 minutes of Hilarity.  Baron Cohen is constantly pushing boundaries and making people uncomfortable and this cringe factor is what truly makes the movie work. There is a scene by a campfire with one of the most awkward and uncomfortable silences ever shot on film that is phenomenal.  The Scene where he makes contact with Milli from Milli Vanilli through a pschyic is one of the funniest moments in recent memory and nobody else could make this work. Bruno would be funny if it was a straight up movie but the fact that the people he interviews are not in on the joke take it to another level.  I am sure some people will even be put off by the edginess and how uncomfortable Bruno can make a person feel with his over the top antics.

Half the Audience I saw Bruno with were completely silent and the other half had tears in their eyes from laughing so hard. Bruno is definitely a love it or hate it movie as well as one of the best movies of the year, it is Shocking, Outrageous and Hysterical.

‘Brüno’ a Hilarious, Controversial and Vulgar Joyride

I remember when Boratcame out; that was awesome. We hadn't seen anything like it before: an actor interviewing actual people out of nowhere and filming their reactions! Sacha Baron Cohen, Anthony Hines, Peter Baynham and Dan Mazer's screenplay even landed the mockumentary an Oscar nod in 2007 and it still remains one of the most quoted movies of the 21^st Century. Now there's Brüno, another movie based off of Cohen's multiple personas on Da Ali G Show. Unlike Borat, Brüno is a gay Austrian fashionista. In his self-titled movie, he's fired from his television show in Austria due to a wardrobe malfunction at a fashion show (count how many times they use the word fashion in the movie, it's fun). So he figures that he could make it in America as an even bigger star. "I want to be the biggest Austrian star since Hitler." So away we go, Brüno tries to get his own U.S TV show, similar to the one he previously had. But who cares about the plot? We got Sacha Baron Cohen wearing thongs in pretty much every scene, looking a guy in the eyes as he watches him have sex with a fat chick, fighting a martial arts instructor with three dildos and believe me, it gets worse. It's rude, vulgar, unnecessary and downright offensive. And it's pretty goddamn funny.

So the big question here is whether or not this tops Borat. Don't ask that question, man. The two movies are crafted out of the same material (Cohen starring and writing, Larry Charles directing) and both have the same goal of offending everyone that the hour and twenty-eight minutes runtime will allow. They're both funny, leave it at that! I'm sure that if you picked apart Brüno that you could find something wrong with it, or you could just laugh and go wherever the movie takes you. And it does take you on some pretty wacky trips. A swinger's club, a Jerry Springer/Maury Povich type talk show, the Middle East (which Brüno calls the "Middle Earth"). Picking on America's problems seems to be Larry Charles' strong suit, poking fun at our religious beliefs with Bill Maher inReligulous (which rocked) last fall and directing Borat in 2006 as well. And major film tres for Charles is no exception, this time proving that underneath everything, Americans are all just homophobic bastards.

Brüno is hilarious. It enters my funniest movies of 2009 list, joining The Hangoverand Observe and Report. Larry Charles and Sacha Baron Cohen have created a whirlwind of controversy, so much that my cinema blocked off that certain theater to keep kids out by sitting outside for the entire thing. So the movie consists of penises talking and dumb runway models. We don't need to see that. And because of that, that's exactly why you need to. Mission accomplished, Mr. Cohen. Er, Brüno.

4/5 stars.

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-Nick

Bruno

Dear God/Jesus/Holy Spirit, please please pleeeeeeeeeeease forgive me for watching this movie. My eyes have been eternally blackened by its morals and images. Amen.

Bruno is Sacha Baron Cohen's follow up to the wildly popular, irreverent (why do people use this word with comedies? I don't know its meaning) rampage through middle class America, Borat. While Borat was generally funny (and gross) Bruno is pretty much just gross. I heard stories walking in, but I was not prepared. Especially for the sex scene. I will never be prepared for that. I doubt porn stars would be prepared for that. Or the spinning genitalia (which me and my friends promptly labeled as a new std that causes your genitalia to spin around and around. we call it "the squiggles")

Bruno (Cohen) is a gay Austrian fashion reporter who has a "hip" tv show called funkyzeit. After totally ruining a fashion show in Milan (i think?) he is barred from every fashion show in Europe and his show is cancelled. His bf breaks up with him and Bruno decides to travel to America to become rich and famous here. Through a series of failed attempts at becoming famous (interviewing celebrities, making a tv show, trying to make a sex tape with Ron Paul, trying to make peace in Israel, adopting a black baby named O.J.) Bruno finds out that the only way he can become famous is to become straight. He goes so far as to start a MMA cage ring under the guise of "Straight Dave" But eventually discovers his homosexuality in front of a very shocked audience (go for the cagefight, stay for the naked men making out!)

Obviously, a movie like this will have funny moments, even if they are gross enough to shock a reaction out of me. The only part that had me laughing continuously was Bruno's stay at a national guard outpost in an attempt to become straight. He tricks out the regular uniform with a scarf, talks back to his sergeant, and salutes him as if he was a Nazi. I definitly laughed when Bruno referred to Mel Gibson as "der Fuhrer", but beyond that theres little substance to this movie.

If you aren't offended by anything, see this movie. Otherwise I can't recommend it to anyone. Borat is easily ten times better. The only thing this movie accomplished, although I'm sure Cohen didn't intend for it, is make me a little more homophobic. Gay people would be offended, I was offended, and your mom would definitely be offended. 

Grade: C-

Last updated: 2010-03-02 09:06:40 by JoeandChrisO

Bruno

There's something almost sad about hearing a really good joke a second time around.

It's still funny, but suddenly you can see the workings of craft. You realize you are being set up from the beginning, and while you may appreciate the skill of the joke-teller more than before, the surprise is gone for good. And what's humor without surprise?

I guess it's Sacha Baron Cohen's new comedy, "Bruno."

Like Baron Cohen's previous comedy with a title five letters long starting with a "B," "Bruno" follows an outlandish foreign character with a predilection for making others uncomfortable by exposing, rather than concealing, his sexual desires.

In this incarnation, Baron Cohen plays a flagrantly homosexual Austrian dance show host. Watching Bruno, it's impossible not to think of Mike Myers' "I am Dietrich and this is Sprockets!" Saturday Night Live character.

At the outset of the story, Bruno finds his television show cancelled and his Q rating in a nosedive. Convinced a life of obscurity is not worth living, he journeys to America where he intends to achieve mega-stardom by any means necessary.

The hi-jinks that ensue are hit and miss. Bruno's attempt to "go straight" by participating in a hetero sex orgy is a hit. A foray into hunting country with three uncultured hicks is a less eventful miss.

Overall, the quest to "get famous" may be too vague to provide sufficient narrative thrust, even for a farce like this. The earlier Borat's stated intention, to marry Pamela Anderson, was much more specific and had an underlying pathos that put the comedy into sharper relief.

Try as one might, it's almost impossible to get away from basic storytelling principles and live to tell about it.

Sacha Baron Cohen's own celebrity is lustrous enough that he will certainly make a third movie -- presumably "Ali G" -- within the next couple of years. Here's hoping he tacks back to the more solidly-grounded "Borat" instead of following the formless trajectory "Bruno" suggests.

And here's hoping he finds a new way to surprise us.


SCORE

How Accomplished: 57/100

How Much I Enjoyed: 53/100

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Bruno

Okay before I start.. I really really really liked Borat. But damn... Bruno was just wrong!



So okay, Bruno is the second love child by Sacha Baron Cohen after the hugely successful Borat: Cultural Learnings of America For Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. It's about this gay Austrian fashionista who get's fired from his fashion talk show after a runway incident, so he decides to go to America and become a huge star there.



Bruno is around the same formula as Borat where we have this really outrageous character interviewing and doing crazy shit to poor unsuspecting normal folks. But damn Bruno is so much more uncomfortable to watch than Borat. It's like Sacha Baron Cohen wondered, "How on earth am I gonna top what I did in Borat....... I gotta get myself killed!



And really, he tries so hard. Bruno is more of an endurance test than a comedy. We just watch it to see how far can he go doing all these crazy gay stuff before he finally gets the crap beaten out of.




I mean Bruno goes on a hunting trip with some of the most backward hillbillies possible and gets naked and sticks his ass in their faces. If that's not enough, this dude goes to Iraq and walks the streets with the most gayest outfits possible. He even goes as far as interviewing a leader of a terrorist organization and says the most insulting things (things you wouldn't even say to someone you don't like here) to him.


But I did get a few laughs out of the film though. There's this part where he's being interviewed in front of a lot of fat angry black women. And I swear those ladies were gonna tear him apart like in Jerry Springer or something.



But overall this movie was so freakin crude and offensive that I just couldn't enjoy myself. I don't recommend most Malaysians to see it since we're still mostly conservative. But if you do wanna see the show, see it with a large group of people just so that you can watch their reactions. But be warned! There's gay anal sex, close ups of pubic hair.. and my personal favourite, a major close up of Bruno's 2 ft long dick just waging for about 10 seconds. And after that.. I swear I'm not lying.. his dick looks directly at the camera and says "Bruno!!!"

And I was like, "Shit his dick can talk!" Then I start slapping my own and going "C'mon! Talk! Why can't you talk!!"

RATING: 5/10 (Not as good as Borat)

NicholasC

Bruno

Obscene humour is life-affirming. It steals death’s thunder. With every forbidden word said aloud, every affront-giving body part on show, comedians yank death out of its prudish silence. In the same way sex let’s you (hopefully) bare all, obscene humour is about making an audience stop minding their bodies. You’re meant to startle (at first), but once the oh-my-God bit is done, laughter is liberating. Death is the only word that’s truly obscene, because it’s an end. Obscene humour is about saying: yes, x is mortifying, but – so what? The new comedy,Bruno, will give prudes a heart-attack. It’s horny for life.

Shot like a documentary, Bruno is about some men’s terror of homosexuals. In a blaze of penises, sex paraphernalia and come-hither looks, comedian Sacha Baron Cohen takes a ludicrous gay stereotype to America and… Bruno happens. It’s no more a conventional movie comedy than Borat was two years ago, but the effect is perhaps easier to guess. Men run, men cry, men hurl beer and metal chairs at Baron Cohen, and we look on – the way you watch a volcano erupt (awed, but glad you’re not there). It’s a movie that asks the rhetorical question: do cage-fighting fans want to watch men kiss? And it also contains perhaps the most amusing talking penis in movie history, a phallus that literally shouts: BRUNO!

The debate is: is Baron Cohen being mean to his victims? And that’s perhaps my only sticking point. Obscene humour is one thing, but humiliating real people is not alright. I’d guess Cohen would say: these bigots deserve to be laughed at. And you certainly can’t accuse him of cowardice. In one scene he tells the leader of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade that “his king Osama” looks like “a dirty wizard or a homeless Santa Claus” (even Lenny Bruce never did his act in front of terrorists). But just because Cohen is willing to get nose-to-nose with his victims, he can’t get around the fact that he wants to hurt them. If you enjoyBruno, you’re not a homophobe, but you are laughing at stunts that are (sometimes) pretty cruel.

The movie is best when it’s simply outrageous. Outrage, ironically, is easy in America. You’d think all that porn would have dulled the Puritan instinct by now, but no – everyone still freaks when they see a penis. Male genitals are America’s last taboo (besides gun control). You can rape, murder, disembowel and defile the human body in movies, but God help you if you show a guy without pants. Bruno takes this hang-up and has a little fun with it. The opening montage of surreal gay sex acts is enough to have the Puritan fathers stage The Crucible (once you’ve seen champagne poured out of a man’s anus, you may feel a little woozy too).

As a character, Bruno lacks the cheery anarchic streak that made Borat so loveable, but as an illustration of Sacha Baron Cohen’s kamikaze comedy, he’s peerless. Cohen is the love-child of Peter Sellers and Patty Hearst; he erases himself to wage joke warfare. Whether he’s mincing up to a group of Hasidic Jews in Jerusalem or being whipped at a swinger’s party in Alabama, he shows no fear. His life insurance premiums must look like cell-phone numbers. His motives are simple: he wants to make comedy dangerous. If someone had handed Andy Kaufman a blank cheque and a full body wax in 1980, you’d have got the same result.

What’s obscene? Most of the time, it’s bodily: below the waist but above the knees, body fluids, nipples, bodies that don’t look the way they should. But what’s obscene? These things… they’re us. We live in deathly terror of our bodies; double, even triple that terror of sex. It’s a deathly terror because we don’t speak of it (death robs everything of its voice). Obscene comedy just points out the silliness of it all. With proud abandon, it encourages us to look on mortifying things as harmless. The point of Bruno is to depth-charge shame. Because we all get old, and we all die, and that’s the only obscenity. Prudery is like laughing discreetly – it’s anti-life.

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BRUNO (2009)

BOTTOM LINE: Despite being more evenly handled as a film, and still very funny, “Bruno” is not as successfully funny as “Borat”, and the way sequences are edited makes the proceedings feel more staged than what they actually are.

THE GOOD: Sacha Baron Cohen is at it again, this time with Bruno, a gay Austrian fashionista who wants to become super-famous. As with “Borat”, Cohen unleashes this offensive stereotype on Americans who do not know any better, and quite often comes up with hilarious results. For example, Bruno wants to do a fashion shoot for himself with kids and his interviews with the mothers have to rank as downright embarrassing for those mothers as they basically agree for their babies to do anything he suggests. Bruno’s attempt to become straight is hilariously realised when he visits a “gay converter”, someone who specialises in turning gay people straight. This God-fearing individual is prime fodder for Bruno, as is the obligatory “make fun of a crowd of red-necks scene” when he manages to turn a staged fight in a boxing ring in to a love-making session with his assistant. This last scene is so funny, particularly with the reactions of the red-necks, that Cohen could have made the whole film about it. As a piece, the film is better constructed and evenly-handled than “Borat”, from the hilarious title sequence to the scripted sequences which link all the improvised sequences together. “Bruno” is a very funny film which manages to push the boundaries of comedy and the genre of the mockumentary in general.

THE BAD: Despite its very funny sequences, “Bruno” is not as funny as say the first half of “Borat”, largely because the title character is not as funny in concept. Borat was an ignorant, dumb and innocent immigrant, whereas Bruno can be classed in the more arrogant, stuck-up and not-classy category. When Borat insulted people, he looked like he did not mean it. When Bruno insults people, you get the sense that he is in on it. This leads to another problem with the film; despite all of its improvised sequences which are quite obvious, the way the film is put together gives you the feeling that a lot of these scenes could have been staged even though they are not. The swingers party sequence for example feels half real (when Bruno is arguing with one of the men) and half staged (when Bruno is being assaulted by an aggressive female swinger in the bedroom). The talk show sequence feels completely staged. As a result, “Bruno” does not have that raw energy that helped make “Borat” such a success, even though “Bruno” is likely to be just as financially successful as “Borat”.

RATING: 7/10

Todd Murphy <br />
http://www.allaboutmovies.net

Brüno — 6

I must be one of the few people who actually liked Borat, I laughed in that movie until my guts twisted and I was on the floor in tears and pain from laughing way to damned much. There are still scenes from that movie that make me laugh hysterically just when thinking about them. So I went into Bruno thinking the same thing.

I have to say that I was expecting a lot of racial slurs and a lot of offensive material. Nothing I am not used to on a regular basis with my friends. I was never truly offended watching this movie though. I actually found myself laughing at quite a few parts that no human should laugh at. But it was great.

I would have to say that my favorite scene was the swinger party. After that my second favorite scene had to be when Paula Abdul sat on the ‘Mexican Furnature” that had me laughing greatly.

But like Borat, the story was weak and uneventful except for what he was doing to piss off people. Really it could have been better, but the plot was weak as hell.

The music was terrible from start to end. It rarely fit and was always noticeable. It could have been done better.
All in all if you like Sacha Baron Cohen then check this out for sure, if you hated Borat then don’t even think about putting this in. On top of that I like Borat way better than this movie.

Base Score = 6
+1 for Sacha Baron Cohen
-1 for a crappy plot
+1 for “Mexican Furnature”
+1 for pissing Paula Abdul off
+0 (I remain neutral regarding any racial/offensive material, but it is awesome!)
-1 for crappy music
-1 for not being as good as Borat
=6/10

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Last updated: 2010-01-12 01:42:33 by Tolll

BRUNO

Naturally, Bruno is going to be compared to Sacha Baron Cohen’s other film Borat.  Well I’m happy to say that this film is just as funny if not even funnier.  Borat was definitely a more likeable character; he had a naive innocence that made you feel okay laughing at his antics while unsuspecting people were being duped.  Bruno seems to be a little more vicious as far as exposing people who are not in on the joke.  This film definitely pushes the envelope even further.  It is certainly not something to take young kids to.
While this one is a little more vicious, it does have more purpose.  Borat exposed people for simply being dumb.  This one targets homophobia.  So once again, I didn’t mind that Sacha Baron Cohen was tricking people with an altar ego of his because he is doing it to showcase how uncomfortable so many Americans still are when around a gay person.  Of course he is very flamboyant and over the top with his persona but that doesn’t redeem his targets of the things they wind up doing and saying.
Bruno pulls stunts at  a fashion show, a talk show, a fighting event, and even a swingers party.  I especially enjoyed the scene at the fighting event.  It’s one of those cage-fighting arenas and the crowd is filled with testosterone-pumping, gay-hating, violence enthusiasts.  That goes for the men and the crazy women in the crowd as well.  These bloodthirsty fans show up expecting a display of macho attitude and ferocity.  Rather than showing up as Bruno, Cohen actually appears as a Ted Nugent type of character named “Straight Dave”.  The crowd loves this as you can tell they believe that every person would be straight in a better world.  But of course they’re being tricked and Straight Dave soon reveals himself to actually be Bruno by displaying some man-love right on stage.  Chaos ensues and before you know it the crowd is throwing chairs and all kinds of things into the gated area.  Thank God for that gate.
The movie exposes all kinds of people, not just typical macho rednecks.  The audience at the talk show is almost entirely made up of African-Americans and that scene shows the overwhelming homophobic views that the majority of African-Americans still hold today as well (even rapper Kanye West has talked publicly of how that mentality is way too strong among the Black community).  They are disgusted by Bruno and some in the crowd proclaim he is going to hell.  I like that Cohen never really discriminates, he exposes all kinds of people for what they are and while some people may not like his approach, I certainly enjoy it… and I laughed a lot.

Recommendations: The Shawshank Redemption (1994), Se7en , 25th Hour

http://www.examiner.com/movie-in-philadelphia/danny-porcaro

Brüno

“Brüno” is a movie that features a talking urethra.

I wish I could stop right there. Do you want to see a talking urethra that says “BRUNO” after the penis it belongs to dances for a bit? Great. That’s pretty much the kind of humor that this movie has to offer you. Cheap, shocking and incredibly stupid, but ocasionally it does hit the mark and makes you laugh.

“Borat” didn’t have sophisticated humor either, but it had a point. It was amazing to see Sacha Baron Cohen portray people from Kazakhstan on what was obviously an offensive stereotype and, yet, everyone he came across accepted it as a perfectly normal foreigner, while exposing their own prejudices and stupidity. Not to mention “Borat”, a total bigot himself, was likeable in his immaturity — half the time he had no idea what he was doing in the first place. Bruno, on the other hand, is a complete attention-whore and a cunt.

This could have worked as a movie instead of a mockumentary. Perhaps, if it was a movie, they’d have tried harder to make you laugh due to something other than sheer shock value, or because you’re seeing someone famous being humiliated.

It’s a film with pretty much nothing to say. In one skit, Bruno lures the politician Ron Paul into a bedroom and tries to make a sex tape with him. After this ridiculous, absolutely pointless scene, he adds a very brief, unclear shot of Paul complaining to someone that the guy is “queer as hell”, as if we were supposed to hate him for being angry at what just happened to him.
Not to mention the scene Bruno shows the pilot of a TV show to a test audience — that’s where the talking urethra comes in. Instead of making the pilot to a show like so much of the garbage TV has nowadays, something the test audience could deem as profitable andapprove of, Sacha Baron Cohen and director Larry Charles went for something so blatantly horrendous no-one in their right mind would like it. I did laugh at the Harrison Ford “interview”, but only because it is tremendously funny to see a established, excellent actor like Ford yelling “FUCK OFF”.

The story is exactly the same from “Borat” — Bruno comes to America with an assistant, assistant eventually leaves him, then returns, etc. etc. Cohen stopped relying on story, social commentary or any of the things that made “Borat” a good mockumentary — except, of course, the shock-value humor. Ocasionally, the movie has hints of brilliance — like the scene where Cohen wears a suit made entirely of velcro, or the interview with parents that are willing to do anything for their kids to be famous — moments that give “Bruno” some meaning.

But then there’s scenes like when Bruno leads peace talks between countries or tries to be kidnapped by terrorists — which is made even worse by what I read on imdb.com:

“Ayman Abu Aita, the man depicted as a terrorist, has expressed his intent to sue Cohen for depicting him as a terrorist falsely, lying to him about the interview telling him he’s interested in the Palestinian cause while he’s a Christian charity worker who spent eight years in Israeli jails.”

That is quickly leaving the realm of humor and moving into sheer bad taste.

Despite showing signs of having fallen too much in love with himself, Cohen continues to be an exceptional method actor. No matter how insane a skit gets, he never loses concentration even for a moment — although it is hard to tell which skits are pre-scripted and which are not, and that is NOT good. Regardless, Cohen displays impressive acting ability, which would lead me to suggest for him to stop with this mockumentary thing for a while, do some good movies, let the dust settle, then return when he can give his movies something other than talking urethras in its desperate attempt to make you laugh out of shock.

And did it make me laugh? Ocasionally, it did, and when it did I laughed hard. But never, ever because of its cleverness, since there isn’t any.

“Borat” might have been so 2006, but it was also much better.

Written by André Navarro on August 27th 2009 

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Last updated: 2009-12-22 12:20:18 by andre_navarro

Bruno (Larry Charles, 2009)

What drives us to watch a movie like Bruno? That is the question to ask. Entertainment value? Controversy? Or perhaps good marketing? These are the three discussion points which will frame my review. Bruno is directed by Larry Charles and co-written by Sacha Baron Cohen, who also plays the fictional title character, an Austrian fashion (and national) icon who readily flaunts his homosexuality. He dreams of becoming a global celebrity and decides to go to the West to realize those dreams. Setting foot in American soil, he is overwhelmed by the sheer intolerance and disregard people over there seem to feel towards his unnatural behavior.
 
Buzz surrounding the release of Bruno is unsurprisingly loud. After all, these were the same guys who brought us Borat (2006), a film which viewers would find hard to forget because of its broad slapstick humor that reeks of cultural stereotyping and racial insensitivity. “Borat was so 2006” is the official tagline for Bruno; it not so much suggests that Borat is dated and irrelevant but rather sarcastically points out that it is just a prelude to something more ‘groundbreaking’ that we can expect in Bruno. While the film’s marketing is enough to warm many cinema seats, most viewers will probably agree at the end of the screening that there is nothing “sensational” about Bruno. In fact, it may not even be half as effective as Borat.
 
Controversy can fuel buzz and curiousness. There is no question Bruno is one of the year’s most provocative pictures. Apart from the crudity of the humor, there are graphic shots of male genitalia, a scene of oral sex, full female frontal nudity, and uncomfortable displays of homosexuality. One scene of extreme crassness shows food served on a completely nude male body. Another shows a swinging penis which ends with it shouting “Bruno!” through a mouth-like opening. Distasteful? Yes. Is this what the viewers want? Apparently and ironically, yes.
 
Bruno employs the same brand of humor as Borat but with poorer results. Despite a couple of laugh-out-loud moments, the amusement quickly grows stale and uninteresting. The character of Bruno is not so much a platform for daring acting by Cohen (he does turn in an above average performance anyway); rather he is more of a tool in which Charles tries to use to manipulate our emotions. I tried hard to understand the character but my heart is not persuaded to respond empathetically. Ultimately, Bruno is far from entertaining and worse, it lacks soul.
 
SCORE: 4/10
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Recommendations: Toy Story 3 (Lee Unkrich, 2010), To Kill a Mockingbird (Robert Mulligan, 1962), The Visitor

Singapore's Most Prolific Film Blogger @ www.filmnomenon.blogspot.com

Bruno

In 2006, a wave of the most frightening and dangerous disease known to man swept the United States from coast to coast. It affected nearly everyone in some way, and three years later, it still has not fully died out. I am talking of course, about Borat-itis. From the mind of Sacha Baron Cohen, a character came forth that was so naive and lovable that audiences and critics alike embraced him with open arms. As I walked through the halls of my high school, I could not go more than 15 seconds without hearing a poor impersonation being spouted by a student. Claims of "great success" and an epidemic of "high fives" nearly decimated the hallways, and I was unsure if they could ever recover. Now in 2009, Cohen has unleashed a new character that will not be as loved, not be as sympathetic, and (most importantly), not be as quoted as Borat. I speak of Austrian fashionista Bruno, an extremely openly gay television host who is played shamelessly by Cohen. After making a fool of himself at a fashion show, Bruno becomes blacklisted from working in Austria and decides to move to America to become "uber famous". Shot mockumentary style just like Borat, we follow Bruno in his quest through such "get famous quick" schemes like pitching a show to a TV network, adopting an African baby, or making a sex tape with Presidential candidate Ron Paul. Whether he is as quotable as Borat or not, Bruno is a hilarious character, and the film by the same name is equally as funny.

Bruno is a film that is certainly not for everybody. It contains an excessive amount of graphic homosexual intercourse, it is shocking and eye-opening (I'll explain this later), and it includes at least 30 consecutive seconds of close up male genatalia. But for those of you, like me, that just find the comedy in these things, you'll see that Bruno is one of the funniest movies of the year. Any film that can get Paula Abdul to willingly sit down on a "Mexican chair person" and casually carry on an interview is worthy of praise. Bruno's outrageous premise is held together by it's fearless lead, Sacha Baron Cohen. Cohen pulls absolutely no punches as he totally immerses himself in his role. Not wavering to homophobic hunters or terrorists, Cohen shows an impressive ability to withstand a dangerous situation just to drag the absolute most comedy out of it. In one scene, Bruno finds himself at a swingers party and becomes locked in a room with a rather domineering swinger. As she whips him repeatedly with a belt, Cohen does not stop the shoot or drop character, but instead jumps out of a window and runs off into the night. Dedication such as that is nothing short of brilliant.

But behind the heavy layer of lubricant, Bruno does have a point to it. This film is the ultimate satire of celebrities, doing whatever it takes to get into or stay in the limelight. Bruno goes as far as interviewing a known terrorist in hopes of getting kidnapped, to become famous. Sure nobody in real life would ever do such a thing, but this obvious metaphor is something that holds a lot of truth. Bruno also takes aim at parents who essentially "sell" their children for a chance at spotlight. As he interviews parents who are willing to let their children participate in a photoshoot, the questions he asks get to be outright insane. "Is your baby comfortable with working heavy machinery?" "Does your baby like the scent of phosphorous?" "Would your baby be comfortable with undergoing liposuction to lose an extra 10 pounds?" Yet all of these questions were met with a "yes" from the parents. Seeing these parents agree to these horrible things is an eye-opening experience. And if those questions weren't enough to convince you that these parents are insane, maybe this will do it. "We have chosen your baby to be dressed as a Nazi Officer, pushing a wheelbarrow, with a Jewish baby, into an oven. Is that OK with you?" "Sure".

Though Bruno is hysterical and creatively satirical, I cannot recommend it to most people. Some of the things seen in this film cannot be unseen, and that may disturb people. Sometimes parents look the other way at R ratings and allow their children to see a film anyway. In this case, parents need to be warned that this film is NOT FOR CHILDREN!!!!! AT ALL!!!!!! UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES!!!!!! If you have issues with homosexuality or graphic male nudity, you'll probably want to steer clear of this film as well. However, if you are fine with all of these things and accept the fact that this is just a movie, you'll probably enjoy it. My rating (7.5/10)

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Bruno

Last Sacha Boren Cohen film I saw was Borat. The problem I had with that one was that it  was that it just didn’t captivate me or seem to be that funny. Yet, people were raving about it and saying Cohen was a genius for totally immersing himself in the character.  He does the same with Bruno, but this picture just seems funnier. That may be because of the shock value more than it being better or worse, but the fact still remains.
There really isn’t much to say about this film. Bruno runs around being the stereotypical flamboyant gay Austrian, complete with dildos and tight shorts. He goes through a series of silly scenarios, that are hilarious, but seem a bit staged, which takes away a bit the experience. I wish there was more of a plot to this picture, though. It just seemed to be a series of pointless escapades by a crazy man.
Bruno is quite the interesting little picture, let me tell you. For some of the more conservative and squeamish, you’d do best staying away. Trust me, this is not the picture for you. All that is going to happen is that you’ll see a bunch of stuff that will anger and/or offend you, rather than make you laugh. This will just mean you’ll lash out at normal people who actually find this film funny. The funniest parts about this picture are the ones that aren’t staged. Having said that, this is the second of Baron Coehn’s films that he has done in this mockumentary style. He’s obviously talented, but maybe, just maybe, its time for him to find a new schtick. While he’s out doing that, sit back and enjoy this film. Sure, it won’t win any awards, but it is hilarious.

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