Bruno - Movie Review

One thing is for sure: I walked away from the new film Bruno with my suspicions confirmed that its creator and star Sacha Baron Cohen is an absolutely brilliant and fearless comedian. I only wish I had liked his movie better.

Cohen, the chameleon-slash-comic anarchist behind the 2006 cultural phenomenon that was Borat, has created another aggressively vulgar, offensive and politically charged comedy designed almost solely to push buttons -- both those of his on-screen victims and of the audience. Here, his flamboyant Austrian fashion designer character Bruno, disgraced after a runway show gone horribly wrong, heads off to America to become the biggest star in the world -- no matter what it is he's famous for. That leads to ill-conceived attempts to make a sex tape, shooting a pilot for CBS, adopting an African baby (and naming him O.J.) and converting to heterosexuality. It's a loosely-structured, semi-documentary much in the same style as Borat, but this time Cohen and director Larry Charles go too heavy on the scripted interludes that link each set piece together.

What made Borat so special was that Cohen was able to coax out people's inner racist by making them feel he either didn't understand them or was on the same bigoted page; he provided the comic rope upon which his subjects would hang themselves. With Bruno, though, that proves almost impossible to do -- probably because the character himself is so outlandish and aggressively in-your-face. People are too busy reacting to Bruno that they never have the chance to get comfortable with him.

Forcing people to confront their discomfort is much of the point of Bruno, and on that level it nearly works. But Cohen doesn't always play entirely fair (this being a comedy, I suppose that's not required). More than once, he isn't necessarily exposing homophobia, either because it's clearly already there (like with a pack of redneck hunters or the disgusting "God Hates F*gs" group) or because he pushes a subject to the point where they must react. Former presidential candidate and chicken impresario Ron Paul is polite to a point, but is literally backed into a corner when Cohen traps him into a room and takes his pants off. There's no excusing his shouting of the word "queer," but you can hardly blame Paul for wanting to get out of there. Even in the context of a heterosexual situation, it's too awkward a situation not to want to bail. Still other subjects, like a psychic Bruno goes to visit, ought to be given awards for the patience displayed.

What's amazing about Bruno is that it got made at all; Borat was such a sensation that it's difficult to believe Cohen could pull the wool over everyone's eyes a second time. It's a testament to his gifts as a comedian, then, that he was never recognized and outed as a prankster. Even if his interview subjects couldn't place him, Bruno himself is such an exaggerated character that it's a wonder anyone even attempts to take him seriously. As an improviser, Baron Cohen is brilliant -- he always knows the right questions to ask to tip interviews from clueless to mean-spirited, such as his interviews with a former reality star who makes fun of a fetus or twin PR consultants more than willing to exploit suffering, if only they knew how to pronounce it.

I like the way Baron Cohen tries to force the audience for Bruno to confront their own homophobia, but his garish character and the insane amounts of graphic male nudity and sexual material may only fuel some people's intolerance. The film is shooting off in too many directions, not quite sure what its satirical targets are; Baron Cohen is too happy just to throw everything he can at the wall and see what offends. In the end, Bruno is better at shocks -- Cohen is nothing if not one of the best boundary-pushers comedy has ever seen -- than at satire. I'll confess that my hopes for the latter left me a little disappointed by the movie, even though I'll still argue that its star is a certified comedic genius.

• Bruno is Rated R for pervasive strong and crude sexual content, graphic nudity and language.
• Running Time: 83 minutes
• Release Date: July 10, 2009
• Studio: Universal