Review: Bruno (2009)

[Jonathan Moya]

Brüno

 (2009)

A Movie Review

By

Jonathan Moya

3 Out of 5 Stars or B



The Plot: (from Allmovie.com)

Brüno (Baron Cohen) is the gay "voice of Austrian youth TV," but when
his career in haute couture hits the skids, he realizes that his last,
best hope for fame is to make it big in Hollywood. Upon arriving in
the U.S., his initial instinct is to create a celebrity interview
show. Unfortunately, his champagne-soaked test screening goes horribly
awry, forcing the flamboyant television host to once again reassess
his career. Eventually, Brüno comes to the conclusion that in order to
find true success, he needs to go straight. Enlisting the aid of a
homosexual rehabilitation specialist, he interviews swingers and
testosterone-fueled hunters while attempting to get in touch with his
inner heterosexual. When all else fails, Brüno stages an ultimate
fighting competition for a rowdy arena of drunken spectators.

The Review:

Sacha Baron Cohen's Borat character was the secret us inside us. That
little foreign part of us with its prejudices and hatreds that we keep
politely bottled up. His Brüno is the nowhere near us one, the over
the top grandiosity that exists maybe in our most drunken thoughts. If
Borat was id gone wild then Brüno is superego gone f***ing wild.
Nope, sorry, this review is not going to aspire towards that kind of
outrageousness.  However, be forewarned that Brüno is rated R for
graphic penis singing and dancing,  ass bleaching, sex involving an
Asian little person and extended ghostly  fellatio --all of them
screamingly funny.

Then, Brüno exists to be offensive and tasteless.  The film's only
concession to political correctness was the slashing of a three-minute
sequence involving La Toya Jackson doing a parody of her brother
Michael.  Still, its 60-20-20 ratio of laughs to groans and the out
and out disgusting is a comic triumph by my shallow definition.  My
main quibble: since the plot (you can read it above) is Borat II in
structure--why the need for four screenwriters? Especially on a mock
documentary that depends on Sacha Baron Cohen's improve ability?

Baron Cohen had all of America as his stage for Borat.   The character
was an oddity limited to British television and the small gathering of
American HBO devotees who watched Da Ali G Show.  This time around,
success spoils the shooting party.  The Milan Fashion Week sequence
required a top down hair and fashion makeover of not only Cohen but
the rest of the film crew after the real Milan fashion police thwarted
an earlier party crashing.   Obtaining new credentials as an Italian
photographer with a haute new outfit, Sacha and company were able to
find a hidden nook backstage for him to change into Brüno.  At the
start of the Prada fashion show, Cohen ran past security and onto the
stage while director Larry Charles' cameras were rolling. To get an
idea of how the rest of the world "gets" Brüno and we don't,  stay for
the  clever "We Are the World" style number with Bono, Elton John,
Sting, Snoop Dogg, Slash and Christ Martin that runs over the end
credits.  Harrison Ford's two word expletive response and the easily
punked Paula Abdul are the only Hollywood stars who make an
appearance.

The American production shoots were in Alabama and Arkansas
(apparently the only states where Borat did not score big box office)
and the Hollywood filled with enough desperate parents willingly to
let their children do anything to be on screen. Two of the more
outrageous ones made: liposuction and dressing as a Nazi pushing a
wheelbarrow carrying a Jewish baby into an oven. In Alabama, Brüno
goes hunting with some good old boys-- some attempted midnight tent
swamping earning him some buckshot.  He then attends a swinger's party
where a whip yielding matron asks him to perform in ways he never
imagined. As part of his attempt to go straight, he meets with a
Christian counselor who tries to pray the gay out and enlists in the
National Guard.

Brüno is so über gay he exists beyond stereotyping into conceit.  He
is too gay to be truly gay, as the lack of outcry from gay rights
groups seems to bear.  He is just a mirror that reflects and exposes
our prejudices. Take away the glory seeking; the clamoring for
celebrity and Brüno would not raise an eyebrow.   Brüno gets a B.

The Credits:   (From AllMovie.com)

Larry Charles  - Director Sacha Baron Cohen  - Screenwriter /
Producer / Screen Story Jay Roach  - Producer Peter Baynham  - Screen
Story Anthony Hines  - Executive Producer / Screen Story /
Screenwriter Dan Mazer  - Screen Story / Screenwriter Jeff Schaffer  -
Associate Producer / Screenwriter Anthony Hardwick  - Cinematographer
Wolfgang Held  - Cinematographer Erran Baron Cohen  - Composer (Music
Score) Richard Henderson  - Musical Direction/Supervision Scott M.
Davids  - Editor James Thomas  - Editor David Saenz de Maturana  - Art
Director Denise Hudson  - Art Director Lisa Marinaccio  - Art Director
Jon Poll  - Co-producer Jason Alper  - Costume Designer / Associate
Producer Jonah Hill  - Associate Producer Dale Stern  - Associate
Producer Allison Jones  - Casting

With:   Sacha Baron Cohen  - Brüno Gustaf Hammarsten  - Lutz Paula
Abdul  LaToya Jackson  Harrison Ford  Ron Paul  Chris Martin  Elton
John  Slash  Snoop Dogg  Sting



Copyright 2009 by Jonathan Moya

Home    Archives