Brüno

It’s no Borat. I think we can all agree on that. But what could be Borat? I mean, that movie was freaking brilliant. Am I wrong? No. I’m not. Ever.

However, it is still a pretty damn hilarious movie. The plot line has a few weak points. The structure seems oddly familiar to its predecessor. And this time around you feel like you’re in on the joke, rather than scratching your head trying to figure out just how real this movie is. But it’s still pretty damn hilarious.

Brüno is a fashion reporter on “the most influential fashion show in any German speaking country… except Germany.” He’s flamboyant, aggressive, and, obviously, kinda stupid. He shows up to big-time fashion show wearing a suit made entirely of Velcro, madness ensues, he loses his job. So Brüno moves to LA in hopes of becoming a star in America. But without much talent to speak of, things don’t go quite as he had hoped. The whole movie consists of him trying to leap over one obstacle or another to get to the top of the Hollywood food chain.

A lot of the interviews and mechanisms he uses are old hat by now. He manages to get either a celebrity or a politician cornered into an interview and he goes out of his way to make them incredibly uncomfortable. Kinda played out. But then again, when Ron Paul freaks out after Brüno tries to seduce him… pretty damn hilarious.

Personally, I’m surprised he can still get people into interviews. Hasn’t everybody heard of him by now? Apparently not. Certainly not the “Gay Converter” minister he manages to get a hold of. Or the Hollywood agent who’s marketing him out. Or any of the people in the focus group for his proposed new TV show. Or any of the people in the talk show audience he attends. Leave it to Sacha Baron Cohen to find (and exploit) all of the stupidest people in this country.

Which is his charm, after all.

The movie does drag a bit. Which is funny, because it’s not even ninety minutes long. But the gay jokes and penis suggestions get exhausting after a while.

Exhausting is actually a good word for it. I don’t think one person can handle that many penis jokes with out just getting overloaded. Probably the funniest part of the movie was an extreme close up of a penis dancing around. This is a real penis, mind you. Not a cartoon. And on the screen my wife and I saw it on, this thing was probably about six feet long. That’s not something you’ll soon forget.

Brüno is worth seeing. And you will laugh. But it will also make you want to go rent Borat and laugh at that movie all over again. Homophobia just isn’t the hot button issue it once was. Xenophobia/cultural-racism is so much sexier.