Bruno Review

This movie is fucked up. It’s pumped to the brim with bad taste and enormous shock value. This movie is vile, disgusting, disturbing, and extremely fucked up. But, in the end, isn’t that what we were expecting this movie to be like? Disgusting, fucked up, and gross? I certainly expected “Bruno” to be sick, maybe even sicker than “Borat”. I was very worried about this film, because I thought Bruno was just Borat with a different accent. So, are there enough laughs to justify the sick and disgusting humor in this film? Absolutely! But, I was right about one thing, because I felt that Bruno was just Borat with a different accent, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. “Bruno” is homophobic-unfriendly, disgusting, and very funny.

I can’t really describe the plot of “Bruno” without spoiling it, so just go on IMDb for the plot. The plot is the main weakness of “Bruno”. “Borat” had a focused story and knew where it was going (no matter how random it may have seemed), but “Bruno” is extremely random. The storyline isn’t very consistent and you probably will sit through the movie thinking “okay, now where is this going?” The gags and jokes in this film are gut-bustingly hilarious. There are some extremely vulgar jokes that had me rolling in my seat with laughter, and most of them hit the mark right on. This film is not for the faint of heart or easily-uncomforted. There are certain scenes in this film that will make your mouth drop and it will stay there for a good 10 minutes. On the negative side, some of the jokes fall flat and what may seem funny to some may be totally worthless to others. There was one joke involving Christianity that I thought was extremely offensive to me and it pulled me out of the movie for a few seconds. But I immediately got back in and started laughing all over again.

There is no easy way to describe to describe the acting in this film. I give Sacha Baron Cohen major props for staying committed to his character. He is a genius at making people feel uncomfortable, but he can still get multiple laughs from the audience. And look, I know that some of the people in the film were in on the joke (if they weren’t, Sacha Baron Cohen would be dead) but he certainly convinced me that none of the film was staged. I thought every shocking minute of it was genuine and real. The supporting characters are just as committed as Sacha Baron Cohen is, and completely work.

I’m giving you huge word of warning. Remember that scene in “Borat” where Borat has the nude wrestling match? Well, half of “Bruno” is the same humor as that scene. Many, many scenes in this movie will put a lot of people off and it will guarantee multiple disgusted responses. If you are a parent and take your little kid to see this movie, FUCK YOU. You are shitty parent. You need social services to come to your house and take your kid away from you for exposing your child to this disgusting movie. Sure it’s hilarious, but it’s not appropriate for them.

Overall, “Bruno” is a great comedy. It’s not as good as “Borat” but it’s very funny and it works on so many levels of vulgarity. I will not see this movie for a long time, because these kinds of movies are not friendly on second viewings. I haven’t seen “Borat” in more than a year now, and I own it on DVD. For these movies, you have to watch it, and then wait a very long time before you see it again. Only then will you see the true greatness in this film. A-