Brüno

I just saw it and I was a bit let down. I am gay, I love Cohen, and was ready to laugh. But the problem was he didn't expose any under-the-surface bigotry like he did in Borat. He overdid his "gayness" to such a violent extreme that he forced reactions out of people, some of whom are probably plenty openminded. You ended feeling sorry for these people.

Especially Ron Paul, who out of all the politicians Cohen could have chosen, deserved it the least. He's no champion of gay rights, but he is certainly not an enemy either and he reacted like any normal person would in that nightmarish situation. There were also some genuine bigots in the film, but Cohen goes to such an extreme to provoke them, by the time it gets to that point, who cares?

There were funny moments, of course, Cohen is a funny man, but this movie lacks the bite Borat had. This was just an exercise in bad taste (which is fine, if that's what you're looking for).

In some ways, this movie is Sacha Baron Cohen's best work. His ability to completely and utterly humiliate some of society's worst people is absolutely on point at times, not least with the abhorrent talent show parents. On the other hand, it also contains some of his weakest and most off-putting material and many scenes are tedious and ridiculous. Overall, I think there is enough genius in here to consider it a success, but it certainly won't be everyone's cup of tea.

As a child of the age of Aquarius, I found myself liking this movie. I thought it was completely hilarious in an unusual way. When Brüno puts himself in various situations (and some dangerous situations), and finds himself speechless; it almost makes you think that Sascha Baron Cohen couldn't possibly come up with any semblance of a clever retort. But exactly at those times is when he wows you with his virtuoso-like skill of improvisation. If I wasn't when I saw Borat, I am now completely convinced that Cohen is a genius. I highly recommend watching the DVD for its alternate, deleted, and extended scenes; and a highly pertinent interview with Brüno's unknowing agent after the fact. I highly recommend this movie, if for his skill at making a story into the various peoples he meets.

The comparison between 'Brüno' and 'Borat' seems inevitable and even though 'Borat' tackles some relevant issues and constantly maintains its sense of very crude, offensive, outlandish and macabre humour 'Brüno' does the same but it's more toned down when compared to 'Borat'. Yet, even though the vulgarity is less in frequency when compared to 'Borat' at its crudest, 'Brüno' tops the aforementioned (hint: a swinging penis that talks). Needless to say, the comedic sequences are over the top (which is to be expected in a movie lead by Sacha Baron Cohen) but I found most of it hilarious, even overall funnier than 'Borat'. At the same time the film touches on some relevant issues for example when Brüno visits the gay converters or when he has parents audition for him to take a photograph with his kid. The movie makes fun of them but it also makes viewers aware of the existence of such people. The execution is well done. Even the score is ticklish at times. Overall, it's a hilarious little film but definitely not everyone's cup of coffee.

I expected there to be a high level of gay and crude sexual jokes in this latest Sacha Baron Cohen adventure. Then the movie took it 2 steps further than anything I had prepared myself for.

The result; a lot of uneasy moments, a lot of uncontrollable laughing, and some putting my hands over my face in disbelief or disgust. The humour in the film is clearly that of in-your-face slapstick, however given the extremes the film goes to, it's all relatively entertaining. Like Borat, all of the genuine laughs are in everyday peoples reactions, rather than the poorly structured story or scripted scenes.

That said, it was a challenge of how much one could handle, and I wouldn't have minded if they had left out a particular full frontal shot of the male anatomy spinning around (an image that will stay with me for some time and probably haunt my dreams). It's not a movie I could really get 'comfortable' with watching, seeing all hell unravel in a variety of situations one after another with very little in the way of breaks, but time did go by relatively quickly, which helps given the intensity of the scenes.

It's not a film for the faint of heart, and definitely has more potential to offend than Borat ever did, though for the more open minded among us who aren't so easily offended, you may find some enjoyment in this film. Humanities finest moments certainly aren't on display here. Go see it with a few mates or drinking buddies and have fun, though you may exit the cinema a little more disturbed than when you went in.