Bruno

Publisher: Universal	Running Time: 1 Hour 20 Minutes
Release Date: July 10, 2009	Format: Theatrical

Outrageous. Hilarious. Genius. Those are just a few words to describe how I felt about Sacha Baron Cohen's Borat. He took comedic satire to a whole new level with his racist, anti-Semitic and sexist character. Just a few short years later, the British comedian is at it again. This time instead of playing as a Kazakhstan journalist, he plays a flamboyant gay fashion journalist from Austria who comes to the United States seeking fame. With such high expectations going in, does Bruno live up to all of the hype?

Not so much.

Baron Cohen opts for cheap stereotypical thrills and lacks the substance (and surprise) of Borat. The film itself feels all too familiar as well, with a foreign character wandering across the United States – a nation that Baron Cohen portrays to be full of moronic, homophobic buffoons that don't hesitate to scream the word “fagot” at their fellow man. The social commentary could not be more clear: Americans are afraid of gay people (for the record, I'm speaking as a gay male).

Commentary aside, the movie largely plays on the idea of shock value. To this extent the movie largely fails. Anyone that has seen the previews already has seen some of the best parts of Bruno. Admittedly some of the stereotypes are rather funny. Be it the way he dresses, talks, walks or carries himself, Baron Cohen is every bit the stereotypical gay male as Bruno. Most of this is already captured in popular culture to a nauseating degree.

Aside from a rather poor attempt at constructing a storyline, the movie does a fairly good job with its interviews. There are plenty of celebrity appearances (with some as short as a few seconds) ranging from Paula Abdul to Harrison Ford. One of my favorite parts of the movie is when he sets up an interview with former presidential candidate Representative Ron Paul with the hope of creating a sex tape (obviously unsuccessfully).

If you came into Bruno expecting another a Borat, you will likely find yourself disappointed. The shock value just is not there and that is what the whole premise of the film is based on. A lot of the funniest parts are shown in the trailer (so beware of watching the video above). In other words, to get the most laughs you don't even have to pay to see the movie. If the sole measure of a good comedy movie is how many times you laugh throughout, Bruno is mediocre at best.

Final:	6 / 10
Written by Kyle	Review Guide

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