Most importantly though, Brüno is consistently hilarious, aided tremendously by economical editing, which brings the film to a scant 83 minutes (Judd Apatow, take note!) Considering the many hours that must have been filmed for Brüno’s pranks, Sacha Baron Cohen and director Larry Charles (Borat, Seinfeld) have wisely whittled the film down to its best moments. As a result, virtually no joke in the film falls flat, and each moment scores at least a chuckle, with plenty of laugh-out-loud moments to spare. Highlights include a failed television pilot featuring a talking penis (arguably the film’s biggest laugh) and an attempt to heal conflict in the Middle East over hummus.
Comparisons to Borat are inevitable, but entirely warranted considering the two films’ similarities in content and style. Brüno follows the same general outline of Borat, taking its title character (a gay fashionista and former host of Austria’s Funkyzeit mit Brüno) on a road-trip across America with a companion (this time, the straight-faced Gustaf Hammarsten) to punk average citizens and celebrities alike with increasingly absurd and inspired pranks. There’s another appearance on daytime television and Brüno even borrows Borat’s faux-dramatic storyline, with the breakup of Brüno and Hammarsten resembling the fight between Borat and Azamat.
Brüno’s ultimate goal however, differs slightly from Borat’s. The easy analogy to make is that if Borat skewered America’s racial intolerance, then Brüno does the same for homophobia. The film never quite delivers its message as strongly as Borat did though, muddling its intent in earlier scenes that lampoon the fashion industry (although there are some fine moments here as well). By the time we reach the final cameo-laden “charity song” over the end credits, Cohen & Co. drive home their moral a little too hard – Elton John singing “Let’s stop our fighting” feels too obvious even if he’s not specifically singing about homophobia.
Brüno is also a more divisive character than Cohen’s other incarnations. Where our Kazakh friend gleefully disguised himself as a racist for satire, Brüno pokes and prods to incite a reaction. Even in his least politically motivated pranks, his goal is to shock more than anything else. His least shocking moments are his finest, such as his quest to convert to heterosexuality by taking an unconventional karate lesson and attempting masculine conversation during a hunting trip.
Cohen’s strategies might not be as fresh as they were three years ago, but they’re still effective, and his talents as a comedian are kind of fantastiche.
- Steve Avigliano, 7/10/09
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