Brüno
Like Borat before it, Bruno can be offensive, funny, and absurd. What the former had that the latter doesn’t, however, is a kind of social commentary effect. Cohen has created a very funny character, to be sure, and he is extremely talented. He wrote, starred, directed, and produced these films. It’s no wonder that we at least pay some attention to this eccentric, bold, ridiculous human being.
The problem that this movie has is that it doesn’t do what its predecessor did so well, an exposing of stereotypes that allows us to see Americans as people who have a long way to go in terms of civil rights, discrimination, etc. Bruno, a homosexual, goes around the world in hopes of becoming famous. He never really succeeds, but that’s not really the point, it’s just the “plot” that he needs to make a movie ostensibly about homophobia and the sources of anti-homosexuality. He shows us a lot of what we already know, and a lot of what Borat already showed us.
If you’re going to make a film meant to comment on social mores, you have to be careful, subtle, self-conscious even; there are so many wrong ways of going about it. Bruno is one of those. There are some laughs, sure, but it doesn’t reveal much about America we didn’t already know, or much about anyone that we didn’t already know. If you find fundamentalists in any camp, the unintelligent in any area of the world, the naive, the predisposed, uninformed, or anyone with a severe disadvantage to play in your game, we are going to get some funny moments, but that’s about it. Bruno is just funny, and at that, not even very often. It fails on so many levels; I don’t recommend to this anyone. Save your time and money. If you must, Netflix it. Otherwise, leave well enough alone.
Rating: 1.5/4 Stars
