I seriously doubt that most people on this site need an introduction to this film, but I'll throw one in anyway. The notorious comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, whose 2006 mockumentary Borat caused a wave of controversy due to the bulk of its humour consisting of the titular character, a weird hybrid of every politically incorrect stereotype about foreigners, being set loose on unsuspecting Americans and enacting one big practical joke on everyone he meets.
Brüno follows virtually the same formula, except this time Cohen plays one entirely different character - a gay Austrian fashion reporter who's obsessed with the superficial culture of fashion, celebrities and sex. The plot (at least what there is) revolves around Brüno, once a famous Austrian fashion reporter, getting a bad reputation in the industry after ruining one particular fashion show. He sets off for America, hoping to achieve nothing more than to become famous. However, as you can expect, all his attempts to do so are multiple and disastrous.
Okay, so onto the film itself - er, okay. Brüno very nearly got an NC-17 in America (and up until a few days before its Australian release, had an R18+ which was later worked down to MA15+, thus making it a little more "family-friendly") and even in what I suspect is an edited version, it still pushes the boundaries of good taste quite far. There were countless groans emanating from the audience as a result of sequences I probably can't describe in this review, but needless to say that if gross-out humour isn't your thing, you'd do best to steer away. Of course, that's pretty obvious, but what about the laugh factor for the people who can take it? Of course, this is just opinion, but Brüno is just not that funny. It's got a handful of good laughs spread across its brief running time, but they are spread rather thin and there are quite a few sequences that are both prolonged and largely (if not totally) unfunny. Whether he's doing some ridiculous pratfalls or maybe just some random off-the-cuff remark, there's plenty here that just seems like he's trying too hard to out-do Borat. That or he's not trying hard enough. I have no idea. Even the parts that I genuinely laughed at were parts that I knew were more or less on the same level as the ones I didn't laugh at, and I'm sure that other people will probably laugh at the parts I didn't like and vice versa. It makes the whole comedy aspect seem very uneven - given that most comedies aim to be consistently amusing all the way through, the sporadic nature of Brüno's humour is a strike against it.
While I admit that it's actually not a bad film, it's not exactly great either. While Borat, for all its faults, was at least a reasonably fresh character-based take on the whole "candid camera" brand of comedy, Brüno falls fairly short by more or less repeating the exact same formula that Borat had, with the only real changes aimed at trying to push the envelope of good taste, and while it's still a fairly in-your-face experience, it's still not that great. Enjoy it for what it is, but don't try and expect a comedy blockbuster.
Brüno follows virtually the same formula, except this time Cohen plays one entirely different character - a gay Austrian fashion reporter who's obsessed with the superficial culture of fashion, celebrities and sex. The plot (at least what there is) revolves around Brüno, once a famous Austrian fashion reporter, getting a bad reputation in the industry after ruining one particular fashion show. He sets off for America, hoping to achieve nothing more than to become famous. However, as you can expect, all his attempts to do so are multiple and disastrous.
Okay, so onto the film itself - er, okay. Brüno very nearly got an NC-17 in America (and up until a few days before its Australian release, had an R18+ which was later worked down to MA15+, thus making it a little more "family-friendly") and even in what I suspect is an edited version, it still pushes the boundaries of good taste quite far. There were countless groans emanating from the audience as a result of sequences I probably can't describe in this review, but needless to say that if gross-out humour isn't your thing, you'd do best to steer away. Of course, that's pretty obvious, but what about the laugh factor for the people who can take it? Of course, this is just opinion, but Brüno is just not that funny. It's got a handful of good laughs spread across its brief running time, but they are spread rather thin and there are quite a few sequences that are both prolonged and largely (if not totally) unfunny. Whether he's doing some ridiculous pratfalls or maybe just some random off-the-cuff remark, there's plenty here that just seems like he's trying too hard to out-do Borat. That or he's not trying hard enough. I have no idea. Even the parts that I genuinely laughed at were parts that I knew were more or less on the same level as the ones I didn't laugh at, and I'm sure that other people will probably laugh at the parts I didn't like and vice versa. It makes the whole comedy aspect seem very uneven - given that most comedies aim to be consistently amusing all the way through, the sporadic nature of Brüno's humour is a strike against it.
While I admit that it's actually not a bad film, it's not exactly great either. While Borat, for all its faults, was at least a reasonably fresh character-based take on the whole "candid camera" brand of comedy, Brüno falls fairly short by more or less repeating the exact same formula that Borat had, with the only real changes aimed at trying to push the envelope of good taste, and while it's still a fairly in-your-face experience, it's still not that great. Enjoy it for what it is, but don't try and expect a comedy blockbuster.