Movie Review: Brüno (2009)

Brüno

Wow. Where to begin? Well first off, if you are concerned that the film may be a little too provocative for you, the good news is that the first 5 minutes of the film provide a strong litmus test to gauge your tolerance for extremely vulgar, tasteless humour. Brüno is hysterically funny, if not as consistently as Borat (2006), but the wit and satire that was so rich in Sacha Baren Cohen's last outing has been limited to only a handful of brilliant moments. The rest is penis humour. Literally.

Brüno is really just a handful of loosely connected skits and interviews. The plot here is even more shamelessly strung together than it was in Borat, and, sadly, the majority of these artificial plot-points have carried over. There is the tumultuous relationship between Brüno and his assistant/producer. There is the introduction of the movie set in the lead character's home town. Even some of the jokes are recycled: you will observe nude wrestling matches, awkward confrontations with unsuspecting hotel staff, and various training regimes aimed at altering Brüno's nature.

The best and funniest moments come when Brüno focuses on satire of celebrity culture. There are some brilliant bits when Brüno adopts an African baby and flaunts him trying to achieve fame. There is a brief interview with Paula Abdul which would elicit sympathy for the ignorant prescription-painkiller-addict if she wasn't so self-destructively stupid. Some moments cease to be funny when the reality becomes a little too scary, such as when Brüno holds auditions for a baby photo-shoot where a mother agrees to put her 30-pound child on a diet to lose 10 pounds. And watch out for an incredible interview with Harrison Ford.

For all the laughs, Brüno has an equal number of misses. Some sequences are so juvenile, it is hard to imagine anyone over 14 finding humour. This is peculiar because the movie is rated R and earns it to the extreme. Brüno attends a swingers party and walks around distracting couples engaged in un-simulated sex. It's not funny and is never purposeful enough to earn its deep awkwardness. And it's easy to see why this film received an NC-17 when it was first submitted to the ratings board. A blur here, a black rectangle there, but for God's sake don't cut out the talking penis: that shit's funny.

The final verdict: Brüno is a surprisingly hilarious film despite a titular character that was never as smart or as funny as Borat. As long as you are not expecting the same quality of social satire of the film's predecessor, you will enjoy the mostly tasteless shock humour of Brüno.

Professor P