PRINTMovie review: Brüno
July 11, 2009 | 12:00 p.m. CST
The Ali G trademark movies by Sacha Baron Cohen undoubtedly come with a parental advisory warning (R rating). But with Brüno, this applies both ways -- you don’t want to be caught dead within 10 miles of dad as he watches Cohen plow into his acrobatic pygmy lover with a dildo strapped onto an exercise bike.
Brüno is a cartoonishly gay Austrian who hosts a ridiculous German fashion TV show, Funkyzeit. But as Brüno discovers, with fashion it’s “one day you’re in; the next day you’re out.” Ousted from Europe, Brüno moves to Los Angeles with the intention of becoming a celebrity. He doesn’t care how he does it and attempts some laughable albeit all-too-familiar stunts to hit the big time -- acting, making a celebrity sex tape, being taken hostage by Middle Eastern terrorists, trading in his iPod for an African baby. Eventually, at his lowest point, Brüno realizes the sad truth that all the most famous Americans are straight. (Tom Cruise? Debatable.)
Related MovieThus begins the second part of his journey across some of the more stereotypically homophobic regions of America (Hello, Alabama!) as he attempts to convert to a heterosexual to make his dream come true.
Brüno’s biggest hurdle is that Borat came first. This time around, audiences are expecting to be shocked and offended. On a mainstream cinematic level though the gross-out content for Brüno is astronomic. Featuring more than Cohen’s requisite full-frontal male nudity, brace yourself for some explicit (and often scientifically impossible) nether region penetration.
Although Brüno is a campy, flamboyantly over-the-top gay man, any viewer of average intelligence can tell the character is an exaggeration, not an accurate representation. What is harder to swallow (no pun intended) are the reactions Brüno provokes from the “real” people he encounters in everyday America. From the stage parents who will sacrifice their children at the crucifix (literally) to the maniacally homophobic wrestling fans who display very anger at Brüno’s homosexuality to a Southern preacher’s attempts to “straighten” the gay out of Brüno, this movie makes real Americans look bad. And maybe that’s a good thing.
Vox Rating:
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