Movie Review: Bruno

July 10, 2009 by Brendan
Filed under: Movie News, Movie Reviews

What is there really to say about Bruno? It’s the movie that you probably think that it’s going to be – and so much more. And yet there were still people who walked out in the middle of the screening I attended (and had to make a big scene about it too). Did you not see Borat? Did you not at least hear about Borat? Did you not know that he had a hairy, naked ass attached to a 300 lb. man in his face for a good 10 minutes of that movie? It really amazes me that someone could walk into a screening of Bruno and not know exactly what they were getting themselves into (and they got heckled pretty good for doing it). But with that being said, there were a few scenes that even I found a bit shocking. Unlike the people who walked out I loved every minute of it.

I think the one thing you will think and hear after seeing Bruno is how does he do it? And how does he not get beaten to a pulp or even killed doing it? I mean, in this movie, there’s a little bit of everything. He screws with the head of a terrorist organization and lives to tell about it. He toys with the Israelis and the Palestinians. Gets chased down the street of Israel by some Hasidic Jews. What he gets Paula Abdul to do with some Mexican yard workers is beyond comprehension – and hilarious. How he ever ended up alone in a hotel room with former Presidential candidate Ron Paul is just as confusing. I could go on and on. There’s the poor old casting director in Hollywood; the people from “God Hates Fags”; an incident on a city bus somewhere in the U.S. (drawing a bit of a blank as to where that happened) where the police have to get involved; the redneck hunters, who have guns and are on the verge of using them; the unbelievable scenario with a Hollywood psychic; the martial arts master teaching him how to fight off two dildos and a strap on. It’s all quite surreal. And yet as I sit here typing all this, I am laughing my ass off. Bruno is that funny. And yet, as shocking as it is what he does in this movie, what’s almost as shocking is the people he involves in the movie. From the Paula Abdul moment to the “God Hates Fags” morons; from to the gay-converting ministers (phase one and two, I might add) to the redneck swinger party – the people that Sacha Baron Cohen and company manage to dig up are as preposterous as Bruno himself.

I’m not quite sure what else to say about this movie. The one word that comes to mind over and over again is “unbelievable”. I just don’t know how he does it – and he’s managed to do it twice now. How Sacha could possibly top this movie is beyond me. But I’m sure he will. He still has the majority of the deep south in the U.S. that he can play with.

I’m pretty sure that if you liked Borat, you will be okay with Bruno. I will warn you, this movie is a lot more hardcore than Borat, if that’s even possible. There are some scenes that make the naked man wrestling look like a Sunday afternoon stroll in the park. There is a lot of nudity and overt sexual acts. The last 15 minutes of Bruno are pretty crazy too. You will see grown men cry – rednecks. It ends with a musical number that is sure to leave you wondering how the hell Bruno even managed to pull that off. I quite liked the song at the end. Very funny and very well done – a somewhat appropriate end to a very inappropriate movie. (8.5 out of 10)

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