Review for Bruno

Director: Larry Charles

Released: 2009

Genre: Mockumentary

I will start off this review by saying that Sacha Baron Cohen's newest mockumentary is impressively outrageous and offensive. Although I am pretty sure everyone not living in a cave knows this, I must reiterate: Bruno is not everybody's cup of tea. In fact, let me put it this way: If American Pie was a bottle of Smirnoff, Bruno would be a bathtub full of home brewed moonshine- and carries with it a risk of permanent blindness if not dealt with properly. Despite my many disclaimers, my mother decided to see this with me, and walked out of the Regal citadel with her lips pursed. Fortunately she was still able to see clearly, but when I opined that Bruno was well done overall, she told me I should not use "well done" and "Bruno" in the same sentence.

Although her utter revilement of the film frustrated me, I cannot say that I was surprised she felt that way- Bruno is needlessly repulsive on many levels. It features gratuitous nudity (more often than not involving several "contraptions," as one horrified hotelier in the movie put it) and other equally shocking moments of comic excess. But if you liked Borat, or at the very least are willing to put your high-brow leanings aside for a brief 82 minutes, you might think that Bruno is a better feature because of it.

I did, and I had a fun time watching it. In the film, Cohen portrays Bruno, a 19 year old Austrian fashion show presenter who outdoes even Liberachi in the wardrobe and flamboyance departments. After a hilarious mishap on a fashion runway, Bruno is shunned by the very industry that made him "the biggest deal in any German speaking country... except Germany." He decides to abandon his homeland and travels to Los Angeles in an attempt to become famous. He eventually fulfills his dream, and along the way many hilariously awkward celebrity interviews and faux pas are born from his crazed and desperate attempts at stardom. I will not elaborate as to what these attempts involve, partly because many bring Bruno's R rating under scrutiny, and partly because you should see it yourself.

If it were not for the satirical aspect of Bruno, I would dismiss it as a rip-off of the Jackass franchise. Cohen does, however, highlight several societal shortcomings- first and foremost, the impermanence and banality of modern culture, which is epitomized by the fashion world. Through his character's utter selfishness, Cohen shows what lengths average people will go to achieve the same goal Bruno has: media exposure, no matter what the cost. In Bruno, Cohen also takes a stab at homophobia in America, but in this respect he is not as successful; he pushes other people's boundaries too aggressively for their reactions to be truly genuine. I imagined myself being put in the same situations Cohen imposes on several unsuspecting victims (including politian Ron Paul), and I think I would react in a similar manner, only without the degrading utterances. With that being said, the film certainly begs the question: "what would you do?" I think that was Cohen's intention when he created both Borat and Bruno on his TV spot, titled "Da Ali G Show."

All things considered, Bruno ultimately succeeds... but those with weak stomachs may disagree. I think Cohen should end his Ali G streak on a good note and move on to other things.

3.00/4.00