Bruno

Dear God/Jesus/Holy Spirit, please please pleeeeeeeeeeease forgive me for watching this movie. My eyes have been eternally blackened by its morals and images. Amen.

Bruno is Sacha Baron Cohen's follow up to the wildly popular, irreverent (why do people use this word with comedies? I don't know its meaning) rampage through middle class America, Borat. While Borat was generally funny (and gross) Bruno is pretty much just gross. I heard stories walking in, but I was not prepared. Especially for the sex scene. I will never be prepared for that. I doubt porn stars would be prepared for that. Or the spinning genitalia (which me and my friends promptly labeled as a new std that causes your genitalia to spin around and around. we call it "the squiggles")

Bruno (Cohen) is a gay Austrian fashion reporter who has a "hip" tv show called funkyzeit. After totally ruining a fashion show in Milan (i think?) he is barred from every fashion show in Europe and his show is cancelled. His bf breaks up with him and Bruno decides to travel to America to become rich and famous here. Through a series of failed attempts at becoming famous (interviewing celebrities, making a tv show, trying to make a sex tape with Ron Paul, trying to make peace in Israel, adopting a black baby named O.J.) Bruno finds out that the only way he can become famous is to become straight. He goes so far as to start a MMA cage ring under the guise of "Straight Dave" But eventually discovers his homosexuality in front of a very shocked audience (go for the cagefight, stay for the naked men making out!)

Obviously, a movie like this will have funny moments, even if they are gross enough to shock a reaction out of me. The only part that had me laughing continuously was Bruno's stay at a national guard outpost in an attempt to become straight. He tricks out the regular uniform with a scarf, talks back to his sergeant, and salutes him as if he was a Nazi. I definitly laughed when Bruno referred to Mel Gibson as "der Fuhrer", but beyond that theres little substance to this movie.

If you aren't offended by anything, see this movie. Otherwise I can't recommend it to anyone. Borat is easily ten times better. The only thing this movie accomplished, although I'm sure Cohen didn't intend for it, is make me a little more homophobic. Gay people would be offended, I was offended, and your mom would definitely be offended.

Grade: C-

Christopher O'Connell