Brüno (2009)

When it was released in 2006, Borat was a critical and commercial success. Starring English comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, it was a mockumentary that followed a Kazakh television reporter across America in his quest to learn more about the country (and ultimately marry Pamela Anderson against her will). It became something of a pop culture phenomenon for a time, with fans of the movie imitating Borat's distinct voice and quoting his catchphrases. A parody of the character even turned up in Epic Movie.

But it was also a quite controversial movie as well. Baron Cohen and the movie's producers faced numerous lawsuits from people who were unhappy with how they were depicted in the movie, and there were plenty of folks who were upset with the extremely politically incorrect behavior of the title character.

Despite the previous controversy, Baron Cohen went the mockumentary route again this past summer with Brüno. A similar movie featuring another of Baron Cohen's characters from Da Ali G Show, Brüno is not quite as funny as Borat, but there are still some laughs to be had.

The star of the movie is the titular Brüno (Sacha Baron Cohen), an Austrian fashion reporter who is so flamboyantly gay that he makes Liberace look butch. As the film begins, his popular TV show has been cancelled after a mishap with an all-Velcro suit causes him to accidentally wreck a Milan fashion show. The resulting embarrassment completely kills all his popularity throughout Europe and causes his boyfriend to leave him for another man. Wishing to remain in the public eye, he figures it's time to take the United States by storm. Accompanied by his assistant's assistant, Lutz (Gustav Hammarsten), he heads for Los Angeles intending to become "the biggest Austrian superstar since Hitler."

But every chance he takes at fame ends up hitting a brick wall. His potential TV pilot — featuring disastrous celebrity interviews and a dancing penis — is called "worse than cancer" by a focus group. His attempt at making a sex tape with Ron Paul is a tremendous failure. He tries to foster peace between Israel and Palestine, but screws that up too. And he even runs afoul of Child Protective Services after accidentally revealing that he'd traded an iPod for an African toddler. Defeated, Brüno decides that the only way he can achieve the fame that eludes him is if he becomes straight. Will that be the change that Brüno needs to become the star in America that he was in Europe?

I'm not quite sure what to say about Brüno. I just can't believe how insanely over the top it is. If you thought that Borat pushed the boundaries of good taste, then Brüno will absolutely smash those boundaries. The comedy is far more uncomfortable that Borat's, and a lot of it works in an awkward kind of way. Maybe that's just the way it seemed to me, I don't know. But even at its most awkward, Brüno is still worth a watch.

As with Borat, I'm not sure I see a real need to critique Larry Charles's direction. When you make a movie using the "fake documentary" style, you've got to screw up something fierce to do badly at it. Really, nobody's expecting Scorcese-level direction here anyway. What we're watching Brüno for is to see Sacha Baron Cohen making everyone uneasy with his character's extreme gayness. And when it comes to that, it's a success.

The writing is credited to Baron Cohen, Anthony Hines, Dan Mazer, and Jeff Schaffer, though I assume that the greater part of their writing went into coming up with the concept and into scenes needed to push the plot forward. The majority of the movie is Brüno instigating chaos among people who don't know he's an actor playing a character, which I have to assume was all improvisational work on the part of Baron Cohen.

But as far as the movie's overarching themes go, Brüno seemingly has a bit more going on than Borat. Borat was a vehicle for Baron Cohen to expose people's hidden prejudices and racial ignorance through comedy. Brüno pretty much does the same thing, only with homophobia instead of racism, but also seems to be a satire of fame and celebrity status in America. Most of Brüno's attempts to find fame is a blatant parody of celebrity culture in general, like being famous for having a sex tape, promoting charitable causes despite not knowing anything about what you're supporting, one scene featuring stage parents who'd do any insane thing asked of them if it'll make their kids famous, and adopting an African child. Brüno trading an iPod for the child, though, seems to be a direct reference to the accusations that Madonna's adoption of a Malawian boy a couple of years ago was essentially her buying a child. The whole thing never feels like it's hitting you over the head with an indictment of celebrities, and it's a really funny way to razz famous people without being overtly mean about it.

But no matter what, Brüno lives and dies on the performance of its leading man. The movie would have been all for naught if he'd been unable to carry it, but Baron Cohen does a fine job. He's hilarious in the role, setting up outrageous moments with equally outrageous behavior of his own. It's been said that some people will do anything for a laugh, but Baron Cohen will apparently do anything to get a reaction from people that will make others laugh. I respect him for going out on a limb, especially since there were so many instances in which someone could have kicked the crap out of him (or worse), and I applaud him for being so funny while doing it.

Though this review has been generally positive, Brüno does have its flaws. The whole satirical homophobia thing feels really forced to the point of being intrusive. It wears out its welcome rather quickly, making me wish that Baron Cohen had just stuck with the mockery of the American obsession with fame by itself. But really, that's the only major complaint I have with the movie. It often feels like an attempt to replicate Borat, but it still works quite a bit of the time. So I guess I'll give Brüno three stars on the usual scale. It's not really a bad movie, it's just more of the same.

Final Rating: ***