Brüno: Delicious Journeys through America for the Purpose of Making Heterosexual Males Visibly Uncomfortable in the Presence of a Gay Foreigner in Mesh T-Shirt — movie review
Starring: Sacha Baron Cohen, Ron Paul
Genre: Comedy, Politics
Brüno skits are usually the least humorous on the Sacha Baron Cohen totem pole of social-commentary hilarity, which includes Ali G and now world famous Borat. But can a character like Brüno (brash, rash, ever so slightly gay) be nearly as popular as Borat’s naïve pupil searching for education on American culture shtick? Let’s take a look at the specific topics he hammers home:
Brüno pokes fun at fashion and the industry. He laments with a runway model about the hazards and trials of walking and, oh my god, turning. Remember last Fall when he stumbled and tumbled onto a runway, interrupting Milan fashion week in an outfit that appeared to be assembled from an entire rack of clothing, shoes dangling, included. Not far off base, really… he tricked security with false passes and rolled himself in backstage couture wearing a velcro bodysuit. (I actually thought his outfit was something Fernando and Humberto Campana — Brazilian designers who fashion chairs out of a hundred teddy bears — which further emphasizes the ridiculous grasp the “cool factor”/name brand/designer insanity has on all of us). Seemingly starstruck and staying in character, Brüno strutted down the runway, met with a boorish courtship of hoots and boos.
The result: the shock-comedian was arrested for this stunt, and he and his crew were banned from entering backstage ever again. If they think they can stop Brüno from getting in the backdoor, they are sorely mistaken. Pun overload.
Brüno’s actual fashion tweet:
Fashion is ze lifesavingest of all ze sciences. NOT 1 suicide bomber has ever blown zemselves up vearing Marc Jacobs. U do ze mathematischer
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Politics probably bore Brüno the character, but it is creator Sacha Baron Cohen’s lifeblood. Brüno carefully crafts a meeting with presidential candidate (and dreamlogic and google employee fave) Ron Paul, stripping down to his skivvies, lighting candles, playing mood music in efforts to seduce the poor politician.
The result: possible slander of a brilliant politician all for a cheap “Ru Paul” reference joke.
Brüno’s tweet about American Politics:
Just turned on ze news – America has a black President!! Wow! Vhen did zat happen!!
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Brüno explores self-love. Not in that way, but he is quite superficially arrogant.
Brüno’s tweet applauding himself:
Heisse Nachrichen!! Bruno is now in ze sexiest movieposter featuring a gay Austrian since Conan Ze Barbarian!Heisse news! Ich have just made a movie. It’s basically ze most important documentary made about a hot vhite guy since Passion Of Ze Christ.
Brüno: Delicious Journeys through America for the Purpose of Making Heterosexual Males Visibly Uncomfortable in the Presence of a Gay Foreigner in Mesh T-Shirt has its butt-clenching moments where Sacha Baron Cohen obstinately awaits bouncers or authorities or angry audiences to clinch the punchline of his stunt. You’ll get the feeling the punchline will be him getting punched.
He attempts to slip into an armed big game hunter’s tent (arriving naked; pitched a tent of his own) in the middle of the night, attends a seriously grotesque swingers party and meets a seriously grotesque dominatrix (scripted, reminiscent of Borat’s naked bedroom scuffle), insults Osama Bin Laden to an ex-terrorist calling him a “dirty wizard or a homeless Santa”, swishes around a National Guard boot camp sporting an ascot and designer belt, spurns racial aggravation at a Jerry Springer type mob talk show with his newly adopted “gayby” baby O.J. (pictured right).
Notable gut-busting scenes (purely physical comedy and slapstick — god, the puns!) include a perfectly attentive karate instructor thwarting Brüno’s fists-full-of-dildos slo-mo air attacks, and Brüno’s pygmy sex games. It’s more tasteful than it sounds… no, I can’t lie to you… but it’s über funny… if you have a sense of humor that is.
The most gut-wrenching scene with concern for the cast and crew’s welfare involves Brüno’s love affair, which he publicly reveals, after months of extensive hetero-treatments, to an auditorium filled with testosterone-pumped rednecks yearning for an ultimate fighter man-on-man cage battle, not man-on-man tongue hockey. Oh, the irony. And I love irony. See Brüno if you do, too.
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