![\"bruno\"](\"https:\/\/sduptownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/07\/bruno.jpg\" "\\"bruno\\"")
<\/a> The release of \u201cBorat\u201d was as refreshingly unexpected as finding hot water and an unwrapped bar of soap in a Port-A-San.<\/p>\nGiven the character\u2019s seemingly narrow persona, Sacha Baron Cohen used his Kazakhstani cretin to lambaste everything from anti-Semites, xenophobes and rodeo clowns to badly-subtitled foreign imports, frat boys and fat naked guys with broadloom back hair. It\u2019s the funniest joke machine since Woody Allen\u2019s early, funny films and the sharpest cinematic satire since (don\u2019t laugh) Joe Dante\u2019s \u201cGremlins II.\u201d<\/p>\n
The chances of lightning striking twice were slim to none, but who could have anticipated that \u201cBr\u00fcno\u201d would land this wide of the mark? While \u201cBorat\u201d cut a thick, sardonic swath, \u201cBr\u00fcno\u201d is content to regurgitate fag jokes for 83 minutes.<\/p>\n
Br\u00fcno \u2013 flamboyant host of a TV fashion show called \u201cFunkyzeit\u201d and \u201cthe biggest Austrian superstar since Hitler\u201d — was one of three recurring characters on Cohen\u2019s agreeably tasteless HBO series, \u201cDa Ali G Show.\u201d Nothing exceeds like excess in Hollywood. When \u201cBorat\u201d struck box office gold it was only a matter of time before the comedian harnessed another character from his stable for a big screen treatment. \u201cBorat\u201d was released in 2006 and by all rights this film should have hit theaters no later than July 2007. It\u2019s not as though the script for \u201cBr\u00fcno\u201d needed years to craft. The studio certainly didn\u2019t require time to construct elaborate sets for this kamikaze pseudo-documentary and the post-production work couldn\u2019t have taken more than a week.<\/p>\n
A lot has changed in the past three years. Some may argue that \u201cpunking\u201d became pass\u00e9 when Stuttering John left \u201cThe Howard Stern Show\u201d in 2004. One year earlier Ashton Kutcher\u2019s \u201cPunk\u2019d,\u201d an MTV production that was slightly more shocking than the old Dick Clark and Ed McMahon \u201cBloopers and Practical Jokes\u201d series, hit the airwaves. Pranking celebrities became more mainstream than ever, yet Cohen managed to up the ante by incorporating satire into the otherwise hopelessly mean-spirited art of practical joking.<\/p>\n
Allan Funt had it right: the only way to capture people in the act of being themselves is to hide the camera. Several hotel workers enter a room to find Br\u00fcno and his manservant chained together in an uncompromising position. The only thing more shocking than finding a couple of bondage freaks in a hotel room is the professional camera crew lying in wait hoping to film their reactions. How can they not know this is a setup?<\/p>\n
The best scenes in the film are the ones that are not staged. In an attempt to gain worldwide recognition as the star of a hostage video, Br\u00fcno elicits the aid of a terrorist to kidnap him. Let\u2019s just say that insurgent madmen are not generally know for their senses of humor and the ensuing exchange offers the film\u2019s most chilling moment. A scene, in which Br\u00fcno enlists in the National Guard in order to cure his homosexuality, did not initially ring true. According to Republican water carrier Andrew Breitbart, Cohen and crew \u201ctricked the Alabama National Guard into allowing him onto a post, giving him a military uniform and briefly letting him train — all, supposedly, for a German TV documentary.”<\/p>\n
If we are to learn anything from \u201cBr\u00fcno,\u201d it\u2019s that Paula Abdul truly is dumb as legend has it. Could it be that she is so consumed with unearthing new talent that she is unable to recognize an established name? Arriving at an empty house for an interview concerning her charity work, Br\u00fcno asks the gardeners to become \u201cMexican chair people\u201d so that Ms. Abdul won\u2019t have to sit on the floor. By this time the needle on her BS detector should have been in overdrive. It isn\u2019t until the celebrity judge is asked to eat sushi off a naked man that she decides to make her exit.<\/p>\n
Cohen and director Larry Charles take obvious delight in making audiences squirm. In spite of a certain deflated feeling as the credits rolled, the film does have several solid belly laughs in addition to housing the finest six seconds Harrison Ford ever committed to film. Unfortunately, it lacks its predecessor’s brilliant edge. This time, the most uncomfortable moments lie not in the exposing of ugly truths, but in the filmmaker\u2019s inability to define the invisible line between social commentary and stereotype reinforcement.<\/p>\n
You knew every step of the way that \u201cBorat\u201d was a film with a purpose. \u201cBr\u00fcno\u201d just wants to engage in mean-spirited fun. If Borat is the son of Groucho, Br\u00fcno is the love child of Paul Lynde.<\/p>\n
\u201cBr\u00fcno\u201d is currently playing at Reading Cinemas\u2019 Gaslamp Stadium.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Scott Marks Br\u00fcno Directed by Larry Charles Starring: Sacha Baron Cohen, Gustaf Hammarsten, Paula Abdul and Harrison Ford Rating: 2 out of 5 Stars The release of \u201cBorat\u201d was as refreshingly unexpected as finding hot water and an unwrapped bar of soap in a Port-A-San. Given the character\u2019s seemingly narrow persona, Sacha Baron Cohen […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":227609,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11555","_seopress_titles_title":"Film Review: Over the top Br\u00fcno","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11549,11551,11555],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-242775","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-entertainment","category-news","category-uptown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242775","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=242775"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242775\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/227609"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=242775"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=242775"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=242775"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}