I'm not entirely sure about this, but I have a feeling that comic guru Sacha Baron Cohen is setting out to make the most shocking, homoerotic film to go into wide release. His Austrian-born Bruno sure wants to, even though he might not himself realize it.

One thing's for certain; Bruno is shocking, and it most certainly is homoerotic. But is it funny? Well the short answer would be yes, it is funny. And when it is funny, it's gut-busting, BIG funny. Baron Cohen has a magical way of pulling the ignorance right out of people and onto the big screen, and in some of the mundane details there's pure comic genius. His biggest strength as mockumentarian is his ability to interview people, to sort of trap them into corners without the subjects themselves realizing this. Watch when a Karate expert down south helps Bruno with self defense techniques, you know, so he can protect himself from homosexuals. So yes, it is funny.

The real question is whether or not film is actually good. Bruno as a character is legitimately likeable. He's gay to the nth power, firmly believes that Adolf Hitler is Austria's greatest export (and when he puts it the way that he does, it's sort of hard to argue) and above all else, wants to be famous. Not asshole-I'm-better-than-you famous, but FABULOUS famous. His European fashion show gets cancelled so he migrates to America in hopes of starting a new show and getting famous that way. Big interview with Harrison Ford? Well… Hot dance moves? Eh… A penis that yells at you German-style? All right! In true Baron Cohen fashion, you can always expect the worst. And it will usually be worse than that.

The problem is we've sort of seen it all before. Remember Borat? That film was bona-fide over-the-top funny, and shocking at the same time. It made you laugh until it hurt. Bruno? This film is bona-fide over-the-top shocking, and funny at the same time. Notice the difference. It shocks you until you have to cover your eyes. I feel as though I'm relatively hard to shock. I was the amazed type of shocked. Not insulted, but I couldn't believe what I was watching. Sex scenes with his pygmy lover, Diesel. His version of Chasidic dress and strut in the Middle East. The woman who kicked his ass. For much of the film I was laughing, but that laughter was completely overshadowed by the fact that I just couldn't believe what I was watching. And Baron Cohen just kept upping the ante. No go on the TV show? Fine, let's adopt a charity! (Because all famous people have charities! George Clooney has Darfur and Bono has AIDS!) Since Darfur is taken, how about a Darfive! How about adopting a poverty-stricken child from Africa! It's all well and fun, but Bruno as a film requires a lot of work on your part to get through. Baron Cohen is fatiguing, relentless. And unlike the real-life people he interviewed in Borat, here I just felt sorry for them. I felt bad when Ron Paul is shocked to the point that he runs out into the hotel hallway yelling gay slurs. I felt bad for the black audience on the Richard Bey show when Bruno decided to show pictures with his baby at a house party. The scene with Paula Abdul was just awkward. I even felt bad for the red-blooded hunters who had to spend the night with him. And this is a problem, because in Borat I was totally on his side. This time, I wasn't so sure. It was ultimately this feeling that made the film feel long, drawn out and repetitious.

I fully understand that I cannot dissuade even the casual Sacha Baron Cohen from seeing this film, and I'm not going to. But I am fully confident that while you will laugh your head off for two solid hours, it will not be a film that you will want to see twice. Ultimately, this is the barometer that I use to measure good films.

Image © PR Photos

My Grade: C+


Story by Simbarashe

Starpulse contributing writer