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Bruno

Buzz says:   MPAA Rating: R
Current Showtimes: No showtimes available

After the wild success of Borat in 2006, Sacha Baron Cohen took things to the obvious next level with Brüno. Unfortunately, the only thing the two really have in common is Cohen’s name. Brüno fails in nearly every way that Borat succeeded, making a viewing almost completely intolerable.

Part of what made Borat great was its uncanny ability to expose hypocritical America and its racism through its documentary/hidden camera-like episodes. While it was always clear certain scenes were staged (as with the now infamous hotel room scene), the authenticity of others, like Borat’s appearance at a rodeo, shone through. However, almost every scene of Brüno feels staged. Very few seem to be genuinely outside of the joke and because of this; its intent to expose homophobic America falls utterly flat on its face.

Instead of Brüno cleverly slipping into our real, everyday lives and showing us that perhaps we’re not as accepting as we think, there is nothing but a slew of gay bashing that seems to serve no real purpose. The film’s climax, depicting a crowd of wrestling fans that fall into riotous behavior upon witnessing Brüno himself making out with another man, doesn’t seem to prove our homophobia. In fact, it doesn’t really seem to prove anything.

It crudely and amateurly demonstrates that those we had always suspected to be homophobic are indeed homophobic and if the goal of the sketch was to demonstrate what we already knew, why do it? At that point, it merely puts gay bashing on display. It isn’t that all of Brüno’s efforts need to have a purpose aside from entertainment, but when showing such a borderline offensive outpouring of hate, it shouldn’t be too much to ask that there be one. The scene makes no comment whatsoever on the subject it broaches and yet still asks the audience to laugh and applaud its pathetic efforts.

All Brüno really manages to do is slap the viewer in the face over and over again with juvenile vulgarity and stereotypes that feel less like hyperbole and a lot more like ignorance and prejudice.

There are a few scenes, however, that would be redeemable if they totaled more than ten or fifteen minutes of the film’s 83 minute running time, but it’s simply not enough. Ultimately, Brüno’s real failing is the fact that it’s little more than a sub-par version of its perfect balanced ideal: Da Ali G Show. Cohen’s television show seemed to know its limits, its pacing and its timing far better than either of his films. Anyone hoping to see Brüno at his hilarious peak is better off renting old episodes of Ali G and saving themselves both the money and the agony of what has surely been one of the worst movies this year.