Sascha Baron Cohen epitomizes the changing times in entertainment. It all started with his hit Da Ali G Show where he introduced the world to Borat, Ali G and Bruno while showing how different cultures respond to a major change in their surroundings. He’s a master of creating an embarrassing moment and he’s truly captured laughter in a brand new way. It’s because of this that I think Sasha Cohen shouldn’t be thought of as a comedian, but as an entertainer. His form of entertainment is more about shocking an audience and making them think about his situations long after they’ve seen them on screen. Knowing this, I went into the theater to watch Bruno last night expecting something disgusting, hilarious and so socially immoral that I wouldn’t be able to stop talking about it.
I’ll start with the Sasha Cohen style – the style we’re accustomed to now that most of us have seen Borat. Borat, in a way, was about showing people that the US is a bit too influential and sometimes their messages gets lost in the culture. Bruno, on the other hand I felt is nothing more than a shock-fest. Don’t get me wrong, I laughed a lot, but when I left the theater I didn’t feel the same way I did with Borat. I think Cohen really succeeded with the Borat character because he managed to get audiences to feel sorry him and want him to succeed. With Bruno I never once felt this way and the flick was more about getting to the next gag.
His interviews were shocking to say the least and I would expect a slew of lawsuits to come his way (especially from the parents agreeing to use their babies in a photo shoot that involved them losing weight and posing as Nazis). They gave you that feeling where you just want something to stop, but for some reason you can’t turn away. The ultimate train-wreck. The same goes for the situations that Bruno gets himself involved in like the swingers party and the talk show in Dallas. At first they were hilarious, then they were kind of awkward, then hilarious again and finally just sad for the people around him that didn’t get it.
Scenes in Bruno will be laughed about for a long time – particularly Bruno’s TV pitch, his camping trip and the finale in the MMA ring, but as a whole the entire experience felt less like a movie and more like a series of shorts strung together. When you go check this flick out, you will laugh but I don’t think you’ll walk away from the theater thinking you just saw something that will change the face of comedy. I’m going to have to give Bruno a generous 7 penguins on the flightless bird scale.
July 19th, 2009 at 11:51 am
Ok after loving Borat I was hoping to get a good laugh by going to watch Bruno. To my surprise and utter shock, this movie was absolutely disgusting. It goes WAY too far in everything it does. I did laugh a couple times, but sitting through this movie was dreadful and awful. I can’t believe that this movie isn’t at the bare minimum NC-17. And unlike Borat, it didnt really have a point or a strong message. It is really that bad.