I saw Brüno today, the sequel to 2006 comedy Borat, and found it hilarious. Compared to the first film, which I didn’t enjoy much at all, this movie was lightyears ahead. I found myself choking with laughter on more than one occasion, which honestly surprised me. I was expecting more of the same humor as we saw in Borat (Sacha Baron Cohen, as one of his characters, interacting with real people, in ridiculous situations), which is exactly what I got. This time around, however, I found it much less offensive and much more humorous.
That’s not to say that the movie won’t be offensive for many people, it most definitely will be. Brüno, an openly (and extremely) homosexual fashion designer/TV host from Austria, travels all over America (and the Middle East, Austria, and Africa) in a quest to become world-famous, encountering many a homophobe (including most of the state of Alabama and former Presidential Candidate Ron Paul) along the way. The movie is meant to expose the ridiculousness of the homophobia in many people, and satirize the homophobic, ultra-macho culture in much of America (especially near the end, when Brüno, claiming to be a changed man, now straight, hosts a cage-fighting match as “Straight Dave”).
The movie was amazing, but it is definitely not for anyone. It’s rated R for a very clear reason, and I was stunned that it managed to get only an R. There is plenty of full-frontal nudity and a number of extreme close-ups too, if you know what I mean. The one thing standing between this movie’s rating and an NC-17 is a couple of black circles covering key areas during the numerous sex scenes in the film.
Still, Brüno was a great movie. I would highly recommend it to anybody that can take the extreme nudity and antics.
