If it's crap... We'll tell you
Bruno Review!!
First off I actually laughed my ass at this movie! Watching Sasha Baron Cohen do his thing as Bruno is frickin' hysterical and he definitely fits more awkward turns as Bruno than he does with Borat with this being a exaggerated outspoken gay male. That is the point to this film. People tend to view gayness as a taboo subject. It seems people have a much bigger problem with gay people than they do with foreigners. That is where Sahsa's Bruno comes into the picture. He is basically there to exploit this fear of gayness to the point where it becomes over the top and funny. The first ten minutes of this film very clearly set up what this film is going to be in terms of gay content and it just tops itself over and over again. That is to say that this film achieves everything it sets out to do as a comedy. It just wants to make us laugh awkwardly and hysterically. It works, but I can definitely say coming out of this first screening that it's not going to be a film for everybody. It plays very heavily on the gay jokes. Note that these gay jokes isn't Sasha going over the top with some of these jokes. He is just rolling out evidence that he is gay and we watch how everybody in the film freaks out at his various and over the top ways of showing how proud he is to be gay. The joke is more on the audience rather than Bruno. This film presents gayness and tells you to deal with it because nobody is going to or should hold back. It presents the idea that being gay is fine and the only problem with it is YOU because you can't deal with it. If you can take the gayness of this film, then your in for some laughs.
Going over the film, the acting and plot of the film...is almost non-existent. It is a mockumentary that is funny and it doesn't try to achieve anything more than that. The talent of Sasha Baron Cohen is not wasted and he takes the audience to the full extent of what can pass as funny. The technical aspects of this film are almost incidential and they don't really add much to this film. It is meant to be more about what is being presented on-screen rather than how it is being shown.
I know a lot of people are going to be compraring this film to Borat. But the fact of the matter is that this film is not trying to outdo Borat. This is more or less the same film with the same beats. Only difference this time is that Borat was a revolutionary film in the fact that it decided to use real life and real people in bizzare situations as the backdrop for the humor in a way that hadn't been presented to a mainstream audience before. Borat was the revelation, Bruno is the evolution. In that sense, these two films and characters are radically different from each other and they both work for different reasons. The filmmakers and Sahsa both were clearly trying to say something different with this film. For the most part, they definitely achieved that.
As for the negatives, I really can't think of too many. Sometimes some of the situations ran a bit too long and needed to be cut, but this film is an hour and twenty minutes, so time is definitely not the issue. This is a very small complaint.
Overall, I laughed, gaged, was disturbed, but I had a fun time. I'd give this one a MATINEE. It's definitely a movie to see with an audience. Funny film! Thanks Sasha for disturbing me and throwing a few laughs in the mix. Bruno is funny, but it's not Borat, nor does it need to be. This stands out on it's own.
Tags: baron, borat, bruno, cohen, comedy, gay, matinee, movie, review, sasha
Add a Comment
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Comment by KrissKross on July 11, 2009 at 1:35pm - Charlton, the photo shoot baby scene is real. shocking, but real
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Comment by Charlton Normalman on July 10, 2009 at 11:21pm -
This movie was very funny- there was never a minute when I didn't laugh. Although Borat is better than Bruno, I think Bruno comes close to it. I agree that the first 10 minutes set you up on whether or not you should watch the film or walk out of the theater. Bruno was 10 times more offensive, gross, and uncomfortable than Borat which made the film, to me, more AND less entertaining. Some scenes I felt were staged which was distracting (obvious one is where all the parents say "Yes" to Bruno's photo-shoot questions). Bruno felt like Sacha Baron Cohen's most exaggerated (gay) stereotype and wasn't innocent or likeable as Borat- but I guess because Bruno is supposed to be egotestical. My favorite scene has to be when they air Bruno's TV show pilot to a few people. Bruno on the film was 100 times funnier than the Bruno onDa Ali G Show.
I give BRUNO a low Full Price!
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Comment by David on July 10, 2009 at 6:31am - I'd think that outing homophobes would be MUCH funnier than outing racists. Not sure why.
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Comment by afg1988 on July 9, 2009 at 11:51pm - @SkaOreo I agree with you. as much as I loved Da Ali G show, it wasn't mainstream in the US. It was a show that premiered in the US on HBO and it didn't catch on as well as it did in the UK. In the UK it was a cable access show and HBO still is a extra-pay channel and that limits your audience. Da Ali G show was a funny ass program, but my point is for the mainstream american film crowd, you had not really seen a comedy film like Borat which is why it did so well. It was only after Borat did so well that Da Ali G show finally caught on. My contention was that it wasn't presented to the mainstream film crowd here in the US, but I agree that it wasn't new.
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Comment by SkaOreo on July 9, 2009 at 10:02pm -
"Only difference this time is that Borat was a revolutionary film in the fact that it decided to use real life and real people in bizzare situations as the backdrop for the humor in a way that hadn't been presented to a mainstream audience before"
Well I wouldn't say that since he did the same thing before years ago with Da Ali G show.
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Comment by Brandon Mac $hawn on July 9, 2009 at 5:57pm -
I still need to see borat but I want to see this movie too.
Good review
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Comment by Dr. El Awesome on July 9, 2009 at 5:33pm - saw it on wednesday, much better then borat.
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Comment by QbanKnight on July 9, 2009 at 4:56pm - great review, i too will be checkin bruno out
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Comment by Travis Pickle on July 9, 2009 at 2:46pm -
solid review
This looks even better than Borat! and that will take some topping! I've never laughed so hard in a movie theatre than at Borat!
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Comment by Rob Kone on July 9, 2009 at 2:09pm -
Im currently making a movie review website and I cant make it to the movie Bruno and I wanted to ask you if I could use your review and publish it on my website.
If you do acctept I promise I will give you full credit for the review and put your name or/and a link to the webpage of your choosing. And on the websites I own I get an average of 1000 views per day.
Write back if you accept
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