Blu-ray Review: Brüno

Sacha Baron Cohen has made a career of a Candid Camera-meets-character acting formula to bring out the reactions of political figures faced with the questions of urban (and in this case moronic) youth (Ali G), foreign prejudices and ignorance (Borat) and the sheer stupidity of the fashion industry and people’s aversions to a flamboyantly gay character (Brüno). The beauty of the formula is that people dig their own holes when presented with a situation and Baron Cohen’s comedic presentation allows viewers to laugh while learning something very important about their peers and possibly themselves.

But after two successful HBO seasons of Da Ali G Show and a critically acclaimed feature-length Borat effort, it seems as though the actor/comedian/social commentator behind the characters has finally jumped the shark with the feature-length Brüno experiment. While Brüno, at times, still provides a wealth of moments shocking due to the reactions of its unwitting participants, they are a rarity compared to Baron Cohen’s previous efforts. But the film’s most egregious offense is simply not being that funny.

Brüno is an Austrian fashionista who is exiled from the business and seeks fame in the United States. He decides he needs to replicate certain celebrity trends, while still posing as a journalist and interviewing other celebrities and prominent social figures. The amazing thing here is that given the attention Borat received people still don’t recognize him and fall for the gags.

That said, the gags are incredibly weak this time around, for the most part. Because rather than rely on the formula that has worked for Baron Cohen for years, he takes everything to a new level of extreme to which no one could be expected to react favorably. In one scene, Brüno visits a psychic with the intention of seeing the spirit of his dead, gay lover. Brüno pretends to see such a vision, and proceeds to get on the floor and graphically simulate fellatio. Surprisingly, the psychic doesn’t react much, making the scene even less funny, but even if he had reacted, gay or straight, what Baron Cohen is doing is completely absurd.

As with many scenes in the movie, Brüno acts like an asshole and often gets treated like one, unfortunately making the gay issue a moot point, when it should be a valid topic to explore. Yes, on a talk show we see people immediately react negatively when Brüno, a single dad for the purposes of the scene, lets it slip that he’s also gay. But he follows this up with photos of himself holding the baby with a swarm of bees and later on a crucifix. Again, no matter what the sexual orientation Brüno is not fit to be a parent, so how do we do anything but side with the violent crowd at that point? And the moral of the exercise is lost.

The thing that saves Brüno’s Blu-ray release is its commentary, which is infinitely more interesting than the core content. While the film misses its mark, the commentary lets us know that Baron Cohen still had good intentions in making it, enlightening viewers as to what he was going for with certain bits, even if it didn’t come across in the final, edited product. More interesting is the material in which Baron Cohen explains the difficulties of filming Brüno segments after already being such a recognized figure.

On top of that, alternative, deleted and extended scenes come a bit out of context, but in many cases provide more laughs than the film, and seem more on target with their purpose. Also interesting is the interview with Lloyd Robinson, the real-life Hollywood agent who was duped into thinking Brüno was a real client for the entirety of the filming production. So while Brüno doesn’t quite strike the same chord as Baron Cohen’s previous work, fans will find plenty more to enjoy on the Blu-ray outing. It also includes a digital copy of the feature.

Special Features:

-The Brüno Blu-ray disc is presented in 1080p high-definition 1.85:1 aspect ratio video; English DTS Master Audio 5.1, DVS DD 2.0, French and Spanish DTS 5.1; with English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles

-Special features are presented in 1080i/p high-definition; English Dolby Digital 2.0 audio

-Video commentary with Sacha Baron Cohen and Larry Charles

-Deleted, Alternative and Extended Scenes

-An Interview with Lloyd Robinson

-Digital Copy

About the Writer:

Bill Jones is the editor-in-chief of padsandpanels.com, a site dedicated to coverage of comics and games.