Sacha Baron Cohen's second feature-length film is a solid follow-up to "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan". The titular character again creates his fair share of cringe-worthy moments, many of which will leave you wondering exactly how he pulled them off without being arrested or assaulted (the latter seemed on the verge of happening more than once in the 90-minute film). Even as I enjoyed myself, though, there were a few things that, in my opinion, kept it from reaching the comedic heights of "Borat".
Even for Sacha Baron Cohen, it's hard to strike TV-skit-to-full-length-movie gold twice. Now, because the overall gag is the same - pose as an uncomprehending foreign TV star and uncomfortably interview famous and non-famous Americans - there's not a lot that sets the feel of "Bruno" apart from that of its predecessor (can it be called a "prequel"?). I think the reason I'm not as high on this film as I was on Cohen's first effort is simply that it's not the first effort. In a sense, it's something I've seen before. "Borat" had me rolling on the floor because it was the first time I'd seen anything like it on the big screen. This time around, while the interviews and scenarios were largely new and still hilarious (a scene featuring Bruno in a karate studio is strikingly similar to the one in "Borat" - just substitute "self-defense from attacking Jew with Jew claws" with "self-defense from attacking homosexual with two dildos"), I almost felt like I knew what to expect.
"Bruno" also felt more scripted than "Borat," in ways it's hard to describe without spoiling anything. While there were of course pieces of "Borat" that had to be scripted - the Pamela Anderson abduction scene being the most publicized - the ratio of scripted to unscripted moments definitely seemed higher in "Bruno", and the film suffered for it.
All in all, I was certainly entertained by "Bruno" when I left the theater. I had several genuine laughs that managed to overshadow some of the more shocking and unfunnily uncomfortable moments, and I'd recommend it to anybody looking for what's sure to be the raunchiest comedy of the year. I would suggest to Cohen, though, that this be the last of his TV characters to be adapted to the big screen - it doesn't take a genius to see that the formula of "Borat" and "Bruno" is running thin.
Rating: 3 out of 5
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One other thing I would point out about this film:
While comedy is the primary goal, there seems to be a second goal that seems to work its way in a bit as an undertone. I think this differentiates it from "Borat" a little bit, although I can't say for sure because I only know about that film through hearsay.
Anyhow, what's really going on in Bruno is some major social commentary on American (and even global) sexuality. People are incredibly comfortable seeing bare breasts on the big screen in addition to scenes that border on softcore porn (and this is almost always thrown in, in a gratuitous fashion). However, flip things around and make male sexuality the focal point, and for many it becomes almost gag-worthy. Both male and female movie-goers in the audience I was part of were made extremely uncomfortable during certain scenes.
I'm on the fence as to whether I liked or enjoyed this movie (I did leave smiling). But I was definitely intrigued by the implication that I was only disturbed because it's totally not what I'm used and not what society has "told us" is proper. It'd be a cliché for me to point out that there is an obvious double standard here, but there is, and Bruno clearly shows it to you.
It is up to the viewer to decide how much he or she enjoys being subjected to standard-busting irony.
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