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Bruno (2009)

Director: Larry Charles

Time Out rating

Average user rating

39 reviews

Movie review

From Time Out London

Click here to read our exclusive interview with Bruno

You can make jokes about Hitler. You can strut around Jerusalem in hot pants and fake Hassidic curls. You can make a pitch for an American TV show with a slot called ‘Keep It… Or Abort It!’. But, whatever you do, don’t you dare make a gag about Michael Jackson. The removal from Sacha Baron Cohen’s latest parade of in-your-face shamelessness of a scene in which Brüno, a disgraced Austrian fashion reporter in Hollywood, stitches up La Toya Jackson and tries to extract her brother’s number from her mobile, suggests that Baron Cohen’s comedy isn’t entirely tasteless or free of boundaries. Which isn’t something you’d believe while watching a talking penis swinging around the screen or while experiencing the succession of filthy and provocative slapstick, stunts, sketches and stitch-ups that Baron Cohen has jumbled together here into the loosest of loose stories.

The plot is similar to ‘Borat’: an eccentric foreigner comes to America, does outrageous things, makes people (some famous) look dumb. Brüno is the third clown in Baron Cohen’s repertoire after Ali G and Borat, and once again he masks an acid tongue and sharp mind with a distracting voice and a neverending catwalk of ridiculous outfits. But this feels a bit more desperate in the execution, as if Baron Cohen and director Larry Charles are victims of their own success and have had to try much harder to give their film a documentary sheen. There are certainly more question marks hanging over the ‘real’ episodes than there were in ‘Borat’ – and fewer of those episodes too – and you doubt Baron Cohen could ever stretch to make another film along similar lines.

But what’s lacking in the presentation, Baron Cohen makes up for with sheer ballsy, outrageous bravado. He bulldozes you with shock tactics. Brüno is a mesmerising invention, by turns repulsive and compelling. His exploits, from becoming an extra on US TV show ‘Medium’ to taking a bunch of rednecks hunting, zero in on fair if easy targets, whether that’s homophobic hetero America or the celebrity world, for which Brüno is a global ambassador. (At one point, he visits a Hollywood PR to find a charity to support. ‘We’ve had Darfur,’ he says, ‘so what’s Dar-five?’)

The humour veers wildly between the childish (mistaking Hamas for ‘hummus’) and the savage (an encounter with a ‘healer’ of gays) and isn’t always focused enough – what’s the point, in this context, of ribbing representatives of the Palestinian and Israeli causes? And although there’s little for the open-minded to find troubling, some might bristle at bitchy Brüno as a stereotype of a gay man obsessed with sex, clothes and fame.

But most viewers won’t have the time or energy to dwell on such worries: they’ll be watching with one eye closed from embarrassment and the other welling up with tears of laughter.

Click here to read our exclusive interview with Bruno

Author: Dave Calhoun 2009-07-07 11:26:16

Time Out London Issue 2029, July 9 - 15, 2009

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User reviews of this film

clair said...

Posted on Jul 14 2009 19:31 the start of the movie was ok, a few funny bits, but towards the end i couldn't wait to get out it was getting rather boring, no where near as good as i expected. A total disapointment

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Sutton said...

Posted on Jul 14 2009 13:56 A disappointing film, along similar lines to Borat but not as funny. Quite puerile in places and a perhaps aimed at 15 year old adolescents. Although there are a few funny bits (OJ), I would save your money, or see something else.

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Leonard Rees said...

Posted on Jul 14 2009 12:05 This is just not a funny film and I like this style of humour. Any episode of "The Inbetweeners" is funnier that this. It is not as funny as "Borat" nor "Ali G in da House". It is crude for the salke of being crude. I'm surprised Larry David (of Curb your Enthusiasm fame) would associate himself with this. Any episode of Curb your enthusiasm is funnier. Give this film a wide berth.

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chris said...

Posted on Jul 14 2009 09:23 bruno is not as funny as borat but its still really funny . who cares whether its a good film or not when you laugh this much!

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Pollaslove said...

Posted on Jul 13 2009 10:24 I lova Brunos polla, and i think now is have a iman of pollas in hummer

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Stephen said...

Posted on Jul 13 2009 03:18 There were so many unnecessary parts in this movie, you seriously sat wondering how you were supposed to tolerate it. You could tell that you were supposed to laugh at the jokes but most of them were not even funny. Who the fuck thinks abortion is a joke? Keep it or abort it TV show? WTF.
Showing a swinging dick that talks? Not necessary.
Early in the movie, there's this huge gay sex part where they do all kinds of weird, unnecessary shit.
Save $11 and watch the good parts of it on YouTube. Sasha Baron Cohen isn't that funny to me anymore.

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Matt said...

Posted on Jul 12 2009 01:27 I'm a big fan of Borat and Ali G but I'm really sorry to have to say that this film just doesn't hit the mark. All the funniest bits are in the trailer so if you've seen the trailer that will kind of spoil the film for you. Big disappointment. Still very funny a lot of the time (not constantly though), but also just a bit pathetic in some ways. I would far rather watch this than, say, the abysmal Drag Me To Hell, but it's just not as good as it should have been. For comparison, I would have given Borat at least 4 stars.

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Paul said...

Posted on Jul 10 2009 19:16 Disappointed as I went to enjoy this but it got just a few half hearted laughs from me and the audience. Perhaps one to see when quite drunk or with a crowd determined to guffaw. Really just a cut and paste low grade TV show that would not make prime time grade. Not much morre than squirming at a freakshow where you don't know what is real or staged.
The best bits are in the adverts so save your money if your comedy standards are high. Surprising to see the big name musicians at the end willing to be associated with the film, their stock must be falling if this is worth their while.
One star for effort, must try harder. Yawn.

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phil said...

Posted on Jun 27 2009 15:54 I watched the full trailor for this and i must admit at first i wasnt impressed, after 1 minute i was laughing so much. I cant wait to see this film. The sex and the city comment is absolutely superb. Wont be to everyones taste but what film is. Im sure tho that everyone will be saying that they have swapped there baby for an ipod in no time. i have to give the trailor 3 stars as thats how funny i found it

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