Bruno (2009)

I’d never seen Borat, and maybe I’d have been well advised to before viewing Bruno, a largely improvised comedy about a disgraced gay Austrian fashion reporter (Sasha Baron Cohen), who travels to L.A. in the hopes of becoming a celebrity. The film crosses the lines of traditional decency many times in order to elicit authentic shocked reactions from both the audience, and the real life people Bruno interacts with who not in on the joke (such as a rather put off Congressman Ron Paul, whom Bruno comes onto in what the Texas Republican expected to be a regular interview). Indeed that kind of ‘gotcha’ entertainment is something nobody wants to get trapped in, but it can be rather fascinating to watch. The film is at its best when exposing our Bruno like shallowness and short comings, such as the parents who take their infant children to audition for a Bruno financed photo shoot, and will seemingly agree to any tasteless or dangerous conditions to land the gig, (this was truly the most horrifying moment of the film for me, though many moments were grosser). Gratuitous in the extreme, I covered my eyes several times and nearly walked out early in the film, but Cohen is such a master at what he does, and the audacity of the thing so surreal, you almost can’t help but watch. Like a ghastly car wreck, simultaneity repugnant and fascinating. I have no idea how to rate this movie.