‘Bruno’: The Frat Pack Tribute Review

Sacha Baron Cohen brings his other HBO series character, Bruno, to the big screen for a riotously funny yet very familiar comic journey. Baron Cohen cements his position as comedy’s most daring actor, yet the film’s script leaves you wondering if his mockumentary shock-humor is limited when applied to a story.

Bruno is a gay Austrian fashion reporter, host of “Funkyzeit mit Bruno,” who has no grasp on when his interviewees grow irritated. After a mishap at Milan’s Fashion Week, Bruno is fired from his show and decides to travel to America in hopes of becoming a world-famous celebrity.  Some of his exploits include filming a tv pilot, traveling to the Middle East, adopting a baby and visiting a swingers party.  The story arc is a by-the-numbers revisit of Borat: reporter leaves home country for America, films disastrous interviews, crashes tv shows and sporting events, splits with his assistant, finds redemption through self-discovery.

The interviews follow the same path as Da Ali G Show and Borat as well: Southern pastors, politicians (Congressman Ron Paul), celebrities who may be in on the joke (where Borat ended with Pamela Anderson, Bruno begins with Paula Abdul.) The scene everyone remembers from Borat was the graphic sex scene.  Being fully aware of this, Bruno has three of those, one not even involving another person (you’ll never think of Milli Vanilli the same way again.) The familiarity is not to say the comedy doesn’t work. In fact, Bruno may offer some bigger laughs than The Hangover.   Baron Cohen’s schtick continues to work because the audience is drawn to just how far he is willing to put himself in danger.

For all the gay sex simulations or awkward interviews perhaps the most shocking moment is one of the film’s shortest and subdued interviews: Bruno sits down to talk with a Palestinian soldier from Hamas, confusing him for a member of Al Quaeda. It’s hard to compare this moment to, say, Bruno’s encounter with a completely nude female dominatrix. Yet between sitting down with a terrorist or being whipped 10+ times by a woman, Baron Cohen is the hands-down hardest working man in show business. You could very well hate his humor, but its impossible to not be impressed with how far he’ll go for a joke.

Bruno probably won’t appeal to as many people as Borat did. In fact, the film’s upfront take on gay humor essentially turns the tables on the audience who thought they could handle any of Baron Cohen’s characters. Many will probably walk out of the film. But for those who can handle it will find themselves wondering how much further he can go. However, the film’s script questions if Baron Cohen’s foreign-based mockumentary style has grown as overused as Will Ferrell’s sports comedies. Like his Talladega Nights co-star, Baron Cohen is at risk of running the joke for all its worth. But if this is Baron Cohen’s last visit to interviewed shock comedy, he goes out in style, leaving us wondering how he’ll shock us next.

This entry was posted on Friday, July 10th, 2009 at 7:32 am and is filed under Bruno, Sacha Baron Cohen. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.