Release Date – 7/10/09
Bruno is the openly homosexual host of the Austrian television show Funkyzeit until he ruins a fashion show and ends up on the Out list. He is then fired and shunned by everyone. So along with his assistant Lutz, he travels the world trying to figure out how to become a popular celebrity. His travels lead him to create a celebrity interview television pilot, go on a talk show with Richard Bey, adopt a baby, do some modeling, go hunting with rednecks and even visit a gay converter among other things. A word to describe this movie would be Shocking! Above all else, Bruno is definitely shocking. But its also really funny for those who aren’t easily offended. Its no Borat though and that’s a fact!
Sacha Baron Cohen once again goes above and beyond to make the audience feel uncomfortable. His silly foreigner character Borat has nothing on the shocking sexual nature of Bruno. Borat was all about loving how stupid the main character was. Bruno isn’t dumb like Borat though. He’s a flamboyantly gay man who wants to be a celebrity but what he finds acceptable is shocking to most (Meatspin). The movie is a mixture of scripted and unscripted scenarios. Just like Borat had a manager follow him around to provide the storyline aspects of the film, Bruno has an assistant that appears in the “acting” scenes. The unscripted scenarios are the best but sometimes you feel bad for the people on screen not in on the joke (Presidential hopeful Ron Paul). Its tough to watch sometimes. The laughs are there but not as frequently as with Borat. This one is all about shock value.
Bruno is Cohen’s way to satirically look at homophobia in America. And boy does he make us Americans look like a gay hating/fearing bunch of people. Some of the scenes are embarrassing for Americans in general especially the final scene which takes place at an MMA event in the South but I won’t ruin it. Cohen also takes aim at America’s praise of celebrities and the desire to become famous. His character will do anything to be in that elite class much like in the film where a group of parents try to get their kids into modeling. The things they agree to are wild but as long as their kids get a job then they don’t care. So anyway, after his minimal success with his Ali G scripted movie, Cohen really knocked it out of the park with the more unscripted Borat and then followed it up with similar success in Bruno. Its just not as unique since its basically the same movie with a different lead character. Now that he’s all out of his old characters I look forward to seeing what’s next for Cohen as a lead in a comedy because the guy definitely has some acting and comedy chops.
IMDB – 9.4/10
Rotten Tomatoes – 69%
Movie Wiseguys – 7/10