Bruno

In this case, using terms like "extremely outrageous" and "hilariously offensive" seems unnecessary, since everyone who's even slightly familiar with Borat should know that that's what they're in for with Sacha Baron Cohen's latest, um, outing. While there are differences in terms of why each of the two films are mostly successful comedies, the approach taken by Bruno is identical to the one taken by the former film: utilize truly over-the-top, "I can't believe he just did that!" situations to make satirical statements about the general close-mindedness that plagues America.

The trailers are leading people to believe that Bruno's satirical focus is strictly on homophobia, when in fact, that's only half of it. This film also has a lot to say about people's obsession with becoming famous and about the senseless things that make the public idolize certain celebrities. There's a ghastly moment in the film in which the title character interacts with this former reality TV star who behaves as if she works for one of those TMZ-type shows that scrutinize celebrities' lives, and the things that are said here are abominable. Another scene features an unwitting Paula Abdul talking about her love for humanitarian work... while sitting on someone. Sure, she leaves quickly enough, but the fact that she even agreed to SIT on the guy is ridiculous. Sadly, both of these moments seem to have been unscripted. There are other things that happen in the film that I simply can't believe were honest statements from people; the most notable of these involves an audition of sorts that Bruno holds for children, and it shows parents supposedly trying as hard as they can to have their kid be able to get a part. If you pay attention to the scene, and to the cuts between the point at which Bruno asks a question and when the parent answers it, it really does look like editing did come into play. At least I hope it did, or else the film can be used by Social Services as hard evidence against several parents.

One of the moments at which I probably laughed the hardest involves Bruno's conversation with two total bimbos, during which they talk about possibilities of which type of charity to become involved with. The biggest snort/LOL for me came when they mention the "Save Darfur" effort (and their inability to pronounce it is hilarious enough by itself), and their belief that Darfur is located in Iraq just makes everything even more hysterical-yet-horrible. This is an instance in which Sacha Baron Cohen's wit and intelligence come into play, because he essentially prompts them into it, by saying "So, is that, like, near Iraq?" I promise that's as far as I'll go in spoiling anything; I just had to reveal what made me laugh the hardest.

I believe that, in general, Borat was more effective at keeping a steady tempo of laughs. Despite being a collection of skits, Borat felt like it had a more fluid storyline, whereas Bruno often feels like not much more than a mere collection of skits, funny as they are. The former film also benefits from having less instances that felt staged. Now, I gave Borat a 6, and I'm giving the same rating to Bruno, and this is because there are TWO strong points that Bruno has over Borat that make things sort of balance out, thus making both films fall into the same rating.

First of all, while it's not all that easy to make me sick, I have to admit that I found the infamous hotel room scene in Borat to be almost unendurably disgusting, nearly ruining an otherwise brilliant comedy; Bruno benefits from not having a scene that goes quite that far in terms of sexually repulsive material. There is a sequence at a swingers' party in which the black squares are, once again, necessary to cover up things that would garner the film an NC-17 rating, but in this case, the things that are hidden from us are "normal" things that you'd see happen on a porn video or whatever, rather than something out of a "Fat Hairy Men" fetish site.

Secondly, there is a sequence in Bruno that I suppose you could call the film's climax, and it takes place at a wrestling arena in Arkansas. This sequence is somewhat akin to the instance in Borat when he goes to a rodeo and sings the American national anthem and changes the words... but it is... ten times more outrageous... and ten times more brilliant. The sequence is just fantastically mounted, and I'm extremely glad that they saved it for the latter part of the film. It gets the movie's main ideas across perfectly, and it makes you feel incredibly amazed at what a risk-taker Sacha Baron Cohen (and his sidekick of sorts) is. The sequence is executed perfectly and the fact that Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On" plays during it makes it that much more brilliant. Even if, while watching Bruno, you feel like the film is not quite as funny as you expected it to be, don't walk out - this part is well worth waiting for.

Many will (once again) hail Cohen's cinematic effort as the best comedy of the year. While my preference in that category is still I Love You Man, that's more as a result of my taste in comedies (which is why I can't wait for the release of Funny People in a few weeks). Still, there's no doubt that Bruno is totally audacious, frequently perceptive and often very funny. It goes without saying that you're well-advised to stay away from it if you're easily offended, but everyone else will more than likely enjoy the Austrian fashionista's ventures, or "wentures," as he would say.

6/10