Bruno – Review
Vassup, dis ist der Bruno review! I am constantly amazed that Sasha Baron Cohen is still alive. After his antics in Borat, he should thanked his lucky stars, and now after Bruno, he must have sold his soul for his safety, because his antics here, should have got him killed. Bruno is incredibly outrageous, for all 80-some odd minutes, topping the humor in Borat, and besting the next funniest comedy you laughed hard at this year.
One of the immediate things I noticed is this film’s quick attempt to be shocking and unpredictable. It spares no expense, and more importantly, it is funny. Yes, it’s rude, crude, and all of that jazz, and fans of Borat or Cohen’s work in the HBO series Da Ali G Show know what to expect, and it wastes no time being shocking. Now, shocking humor can wear off, or get old and empty quick, but Cohen fuses it with some grounded observations through his interviews or interactions with people. Bruno is gay (hello!) and Cohen loves to flaunt that in everyone’s face. By everyone’s face I mean like Christian homosexual conversion experts, to terrorists, to Muslims, to swingers, and to what? Ron Paul, conservative Republican and ex-Presidential candidate? Yes, even him, and why not try to make a sex tape with him? Bruno is out of control in a very hysterical way.
Beneath all of the laughs, and trust me you will laugh hard, Bruno’s plot is almost verbatim Borat’s. Almost beat for beat, too, and that might turn a few people off to the humor. It’s the only aspect to this film that feels tired. It’s minor, but it makes the film feel like a formulaic sequel. Bruno’s hit show is canceled after a debacle he had with a top runway show, and fearing that his status is slipping away, he embarks on a mission to America to become uber-famous. An assistant comes along too. Sounding familiar? Cohen might have been on a suicide mission creatively, but in the end Bruno is a balls-out (pun intended) comedy that overcomes it’s story structure copy cat syndrome. The humor is offensive, yet sly, as Cohen’s humor always was. Bruno as a character represents the “big gay menace” we (and meaning not all of you, but America at times as a whole) fear. He throws himself in impossible situations, all for the sake at exposing someone’s bigotry or homophobic feelings. It’s satirical and it’s damn genius to teeter on the tightrope he walks, never going too far to incite a hate crime and never playing it too safe, as just to be broad and generic.
Bruno is for Sasha Baron Cohen’s audience, so if you’re not hip to him by now, you won’t be after this. Bruno is Cohen playing with America as his medium, and for whatever the film lacks in plot originality, it makes up for it with it’s humor. It’s beyond funny, and earns it every step of the way.
Rating: 
fingers crossed we get diesel off our minds. no chair should ever have that type of spring. I doubt ikea will be releasing that model anytime soon
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Should be seeing this movie this weekend and looking forward to the antics.
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Jon Reply:
July 10th, 2009 at 12:37 pm
Awesome, let us know what you thought!
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Did knowing German language and culture, Jon, add to your enjoyment of the film?
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Jon Reply:
July 10th, 2009 at 12:36 pm
haha, well, he is Austrian but yeah I got some of it.
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Bruno vas ASWOME!!!! lol good review jon
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Jon Reply:
July 10th, 2009 at 3:21 pm
Danke, Herr George!
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i loved the movie. Came out today and I loved it!
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I found this good place to watch it when it goes online. Watch Bruno Online
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hhmmm Jon … coming from you this must of really hit your funny bone…… but i’ll wait for dvd and Netflix it….. I have a copy of tropic thunder .. does anyone want it???
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Bruno was a filthy, painful waste of time.
I cannot believe I was stupid enough to not read a review about it first. It was 60 minutes of vile filth, abhorrently offensive, brainless: a waste of $17. If CHILD ABUSE offends you, if graphic HOMOSEXUAL PORNOGRAPHY offends you (just a straight porn would offend someone – no Im not homophobic) and If watching real COUPLES Have SEX and S&M scenes offends you(although some may be turned on by this), and RELIGIOUS VILIFICATION and RACISM offends you, then PLEASE DO NOT SEE THIS MOVIE.
Little Britain was funny, Summer Heights High was funny, We Can Be Heroes is funny…. This is NOT. For me who has a high tolerance to “unique” movies, and I “get satire”, in fact i love it. But I found this INHUMANE and PUTRID. It was an ASSAULT to my senses, my ears and my eyes.
To see a “Black Baby” by the name of “OJ”, being crucified on a cross, and a penis that fills the screen. Shame on the musos (Bono??) at the end who supported the Cruelty, Ignorance and Hate in this movie. It is very sad that it relies on extreme antics. This movie is all about bad values. This movie will do nothing to win points for the Gays, and this was part of the movies intention. Simply a painful,vomitous extension of “Jackass:The Movie” – nothing original at all.
Yes I “get it”, No it is not right: BOYCOTT BRUNO.
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Jon Peters Reply:
July 20th, 2009 at 11:55 am
I don’t think Cohen’s “point” was to ‘win points’ for gays. He was exposing America’s ignorant attitude, bigotry, and negative perceptions on the gays. Hence the scenes with the Christian “converter” minister.
I think the film exposed your feelings. As in my review, I found it to be brutally funny and I am a straight man from the Midwest. I would love to hear why this film should be boycotted, as per your suggestion.
Regardless, Killer Film loves any opinions here, so thanks for commenting.
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Here’s the thing with your complaints. Movie previews are there for a reason. The black baby named OJ skit was even in the trailers. Clip 3 on the movie’s website and YouTube addressed the stupidity of the families in the modeling skit. The scene was focusing on how terrible those parents are by how insensitive and greedy the parents of the child are. Really? Dead or decaying animals are fine? A lot of the situational humor is not his own doing.
Cohen’s quite different from the lackluster television shows you used to compare his performances. This movie isn’t supposed to be a masterpiece; it’s meant to be as insulting and vulgarly humourous as possible. Complains about the vulgarity of the movie would have been addressed had you watched Borat, which was very similar in both style and general theme.
I’m not defending this movie, I know that this movie is astoundingly stupid and the fact that it got an R rating instead of an NC-17 does concern me. But you going to see Bruno is your own doing.
And where the hell are you paying $17 for a movie ticket?
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This movie blows. Not worth watching even 5 minutes. Too much publicity.
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