Bruno
As if the naked wrestling scene in “Borat” wasn’t bad enough, along comes Sacha Baron Cohen showing his less-hairy, but no less uncomfortable, ass in about every other scene of “Brüno,” with “Borat” and “Religulous” director Larry Charles returning to shoot Cohen on his guerrilla mission to uncover the uncomfortable side of the American character. His aim isn’t quite as sure this time around- “Bruno” is too outward a character- but there’s no question that Baron Cohen can bring an audience to its’ knees…with laughter, I mean.
Brüno is an Austrian fashionista in his native country, an unapologetic and shallow host of a fashion show with a self-important worldview and a pygmy lover named Diesel. Life is good for Brüno until a disastrous outing at the Milan fashion loses Brüno his popularity and his sexual plaything (to say their sex life is imaginative is putting it lightly- let’s just say I’ll never look at an exercise bike the same way again). His solution? After deciding the fashion world was too shallow (imagine that!), he heads out to L.A. in hopes of being a pop culture icon.
Love his films or hate him, Baron Cohen is officially that. He’s also one of the most brilliant comedic talents in decades. I don’t know who knew what and what was staged or real- personally, I don’t really care. Baron Cohen, who worked on the script with Anthony Hines, Dan Mazer, and Jeff Schaffer, and Charles are a match made in heaven. True, some of the laughs are really forced, and the satire isn’t as solid this time around, but it’s hard not to find the funny in what they’ve come up with.
What works best is when Brüno takes aim at a celebrity culture where charity work is as easy a way to get one’s name in the papers (whether it’s trying to bring peace to Middle Ear…er…East or adopting an African baby like Brangelina and Madonna, or just talking to a couple of truly clueless volunteer workers) as a sex scandal (his attempts to woo Presidential nominee Ron Paul are as uncomfortable to watch as they must have been for Rep. Paul to go through- that still doesn’t excuse his mean-spirited speaking of the word “queer”). His aborted attempt at a celebrity interview show doesn’t work quite as well- it may have more if they’d kept in his interview with Latoya Jackson, excised after her brother Michael’s death- although it is worth it for the quick flash of Harrison Ford telling Brüno to “f*$^ off.”
And then there’s Bruno’s attempts to go straight. Whether it’s hunting with the boys, an interview with some gay-converting Alabama preachers, or an unorthodox fighting session with an instructor in self-defense (“How would you defend yourself against a man with two dildos?”), Bruno’s irreverence and disregard for political correctness is a pleasure for anyone with a passion for thinking and open-mindedness. And then there’s the finale, and I’m not talking about the celebrity “We Are the World”-esque song that includes “How did he do that?” cameos by Bono, Sting, Elton John, Slash, and Snoop Dogg. When he becomes the in-disguise “straight” ring master of an ultimate fighting-like show, he takes on his former assistant Lutz (Gustaf Hammarsten)- whose puppy-love crush on Brüno is obvious to anyone with eyes- in a brawl that, well, let’s just say I didn’t see coming, and part of me wishes I hadn’t seen at all. The audience to the event certainly seemed surprised.
