I’m just not buying it.
I saw Bruno, Sacha Baron Cohen’s second feature as a headliner, earlier this week. Much like his smash comedy Borat, Bruno features a character Cohen showcased on Da Ali G Show, this time the flamboyant, homosexual Austrian fashion reporter. Bruno also continues Cohen’s patented brand of shtick -- lure unsuspecting people into a situation and then film them reacting to the outrageous behavior of the character. But this time, there appears to be a big difference. It’s obvious that most of Bruno’s participants are in on the joke.
I never got around to seeing Borat, but I am well aware that its popularity was in huge part due to its “mockumentary” guerilla style of filmmaking. The fun was in the “gotcha” moments. Bruno is supposedly continuing this approach, but much like the character’s bit on the MTV Movie Awards last month, it all comes off as shrewdly staged.
Bruno’s button pushing mainly fall into these categories -- his blatant, flaming homosexuality, his flagrant sexual predilections, his quest for fame which leads him to adopt a black baby, and his moronic naiveté. The people subject to Bruno’s assaults include presidential contender Ron Paul, Paula Abdul, two military boot camp officers, a minister specializing in turning gays straight, a Middle East terrorist, a television show focus group, and a parade of parents willing to agree to various levels of child abuse in hopes that it will secure their child a job on a photo shoot.
What Bruno says and does is sufficiently shocking to get a rise out of all involved. There’s no lack of envelope pushing here. It’s the payoff that comes off as phony.
The biggest giveaway is the way Bruno is filmed. Many of the scenes feature multiple camera angle shots, reverse shots, wide angles, close-ups etc... To accomplish this, director Larry Charles would have had to have had an army of cameras for many of these set-ups. Or the scenes would have had to have been done with multiple takes. Either way, neither lends itself to spontaneity.
Other sequences take place in more than one location with the action switching back and forth. This also adds to the appearance that much of Bruno was planned in advance. Even when it appears that Cohen is making his dialogue up on the spot, the reactions come off as either bemused or manufactured. It just felt that everyone was trying to be a good sport and play along with the joke.
One of Bruno’s set pieces has the character appear on The Richard Bey Show. Bruno shocks the audience by revealing that he procured his baby in Africa by trading him for an iPod. He has also named his new son O.J. The audience reacts accordingly. Funny? At times. Does it hurt the joke that Bey, a poor man’s Jerry Springer, hasn’t had a show on television since 1996? You tell me.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
And that about sums up Bruno. Does it have its funny moments? Sure, but they’re all scripted. If the main appeal of Cohen’s comedy to you is the outrage of unsuspecting victims, I suspect you’ll be disappointed.
My guess is that Borat’s success may have undermined Cohen and company. The gag is just too well known now to get many people to fall for it. Or perhaps the filmmakers are attempting to turn the tables on the audience itself. Maybe we’re the target this time around. If that’s the case, don’t be surprised if you go to see Bruno that the joke is on you.
Bruno and son on The Richard Bey Show. Maybe little O.J. wasn’t in on the joke
