FLIX/Brüno Splits Sides In Search Of Fame

Photo Credit: Mark Schwartzbard / Universal Pictures Sacha Baron Cohen is a comedic genius who sets up the target of the joke to be the one who actually deliver the punch lines, albeit usually at their expense and unbeknownst to them.

Brüno, which opens on July 10, is the follow-up mockumentary of comedian Sacha Baron Cohen’s hit Borat.  
 
It is rated R for every reason the rating exists.  
 
It stars the aforementioned Cohen as Brüno, a gay Austrian fashion reporter who is blacklisted in his home country and seeks out fame in America.  Larry Charles (Curb Your Enthusiasm, Religulous, Borat) teams up with Cohen again as director of the film.  With him on board you know it’s going to be a worthwhile cinema experience.  Larry Charles doesn’t take on projects that aren’t both funny and well-done.  He is the anti- Dane Cook.

Sacha Baron Cohen is a comedic genius who sets up the target of the joke to be the one who actually deliver the punch lines, albeit usually at their expense and unbeknownst to them.

If you are easily offended by ethnic jokes, graphic nudity and just about every violation of political correctness, you should stop reading because seeing Brüno will probably give you an embolism.  I’m not offended if you leave, we’ll catch up for next week’s review.

…Pause…

Photo Credit: Frank Ockenfels / Universal Pictures Brüno offends every single ethnic, social, and religious group imaginable. He’s an equal opportunity offender.

Now that they’re gone, let me tell you about Brüno.  The best way I can sum up the film is to say that my parents would have walked out within the first ten minutes of the movie and I stayed through the credits.  Brüno offends every single ethnic, social, and religious group imaginable.  He’s an equal opportunity offender.    

But Brüno doesn’t stop there.  He also manages to humiliate or anger pillars of society.  He asks a judge on one of television’s top shows to eat lunch off of something that does not exactly meet health code standards.  He also tries to seduce a politician, which given the recent news concerning a few of them, was a more difficult task than you’d think.  

Brüno, while castigated from Austria and on a mission to become famous in Los Angeles, isn’t as shallow as self-centered as many of today’s wannabe celebrities.  In his plight for fame he tries to save a young child from a third world country.  He goes so far as to try to do what no American president has ever done, settle the centuries old rift between the Jews and Muslims by sitting down with Israeli and Palestinian academics and politicians.  He even gets them to agree on something.  Perhaps he was just trying to show off his diplomatic chops for any openings the State Department may have.   

Much like Borat, Brüno travels around the United States meeting people from all walks of life.  Similar to how Borat took lessons on how to drive, dine in a sophisticated manner, and speak properly, Brüno takes on similar tasks in self-improvement, including learning martial arts from a sensei somewhere in the South.  Rumor has it there is a remake of The Karate Kid in the works.  If this is true Brüno might make a better Daniel-san than the reported actor for the role, Will Smith’s kid.  And there’s a Mr. Miyagi somewhere below the Mason-Dixon Line just waiting to teach him.  Cobra Kai wouldn’t stand a chance in the All Valley Karate Tournament against The Southern Miyagi’s dojo.

In making offensive jokes, Cohen shows an ignorant underbelly of American society.  For example, some of the parents in Brüno make Jon Benet’s folks look like the Cleavers.

Brüno wasn’t as good or funny of a movie as Borat.  Borat had a more developed storyline and a wider variety of interactions with other people.  The Borat character is also just plain funnier than Brüno.  Along those lines, there were no memorable phrases from Brüno to go alongside “Great Success!” and “Verrry Niiice!” from Borat.  However, Brüno’s antics were more shocking than Borat’s.  There were more “I can’t believe I just saw that” scenes in Brüno.  It was a very funny movie, and more than delivered on the excitement and expectations I had going in.  Like many sequels or second efforts it just isn’t as good as its predecessor.

If you aren’t a highly sensitive person who enjoys laughing and seeing oblivious people have jokes played on them then Brüno is the movie for you.  If you don’t fall into that category, there’s always Entourage to keep your lips in a straight line and your teeth hidden behind them to help pass the time.