Review: Bruno

Ever since Borat in 2006, we were left wondering: what’s next? Sacha Baron-Cohen has a good thing going, if you can understand and appreciate his style of humour/filmmaking then he never fails to deliver. The downside to his approach is we’re only ever going to see each of his characters for a short while before he has to get rid of him, lest the fame of his previous endeavors ruin his attempts to stay below-the-radar enough to expose most people as the monsters they are, which is essentially what he enjoys doing most.

Bruno, of course, was next. Now, Baron-Cohen’s characters have had a film each. Ali G In Da House was a scripted comedy while Borat was an overseas mockumentary, a veritable barrage of clips of him embarrassing the American people in a series of stunts. Bruno very much copies the latter, almost too much in some cases. In both films, about two-thirds of the way in we see the title character broke, abandoned my his travelling partner and struggling to make an impact. Bruno does indeed repeat many beats of Borat, but that’s not to say it’s necessarily a bad thing. Where Borat was loud and clueless there is a deeper sensitivity to Bruno, one that almost shines through as genuine before we hastily remind ourselves this guy is about to cause a riot/security threat/shutdown of the production of a Prime Time TV Drama.

ALthough Bruno may be EVER so slightly flatter than Borat, it makes up for its decreased laugh-out-loud moments with some truly shocking and horrific scenes, an instance of which involves Bruno screening a pilot of his show for a focus group, the climax of which is bruno dancing COMPLETELY naked before the camera zooms in and his urethra, yes, HIS URETHRA opens up like a mouth and says “Bruno”. It’s clear that Baron-Cohen is still as cruelly calculated in his torture of the innocent and unaware as ever and it still works. The formula manages to stave off tedium with his unearthly knack of getting people to reveal much darker sides to themselves than they would ever admit to. These include getting a mother to agree to make her 6-year-old daughter lose ten pounds in a week for a photoshoot, getting a TV celebrity to say Jamie-Lynn Spears should abort her “retarded” baby and getting Paula Abdul to speak about Human rights as she sits on the back of a Mexican worker due to a lack of furniture.

Believe me, I’ve spoiled nothing. There’s more shocks crammed into this films measly 89-minute running time than any film I’d care to mention and surprises will be plentiful, no matter how many times you’ve seen the trailer. The content of this film warrants an immediate second viewing because there’s just so much being thrown at you to fully absorb before you’re plunged into the cold, unfamiliar depths of another Baron-Cohen stunt.

I urge anyone who may find offense in sexism, racism, homophobia or xenophobia to definitely see this film. I enjoy nothing more than your bitter revenge in some strongly-worded rant on a public forum, and Sacha Baron-Cohen loves it, too. This film is designed to keep people talking and that’s exactly what people do. So why fight it? Accept it’s 3-0 to this wind-up God and be on your way.

To summarise this beautifully crafted, flowing piece of literature that only 1.30am can produce, Bruno is very, very good. Borat one-ups it on laughs alone but Bruno trounces in all other areas. Less annoying catchphrases, too. But who can resist: “Vassup?!”

****
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