Brüno

Jul 2009, Larry Charles, 81 mins

Sacha Baron Cohen loves his dick. A dick that he believes must be shown to every aching eye, brown or otherwise. In Brüno, there is a lot of dick – and barely any social commentary about the acceptance of homosexuality. How many movies can you say those last two lines about?

The lack of commentary is fine; I don’t really think people started caring more about the people of Kazakhstan after seeing Borat. Cohen wants to amuse but also disguise his humor, even if very slightly, with a word of hope or change. He does not always succeed.

Brüno has plenty of laughs, but most of them fall on light pop-culture references and topical humor. Some of the best jokes make reference to Sex and the City, or convince you again to agree that Hollywood-wannabe parents are retards. Not really groundbreaking stuff here.

In a nutshell, Brüno is a three part soup. Take 2 oz Borat, mix in a shot of shock and aww, and top with one large, used double-sided electronic dildo with handle bars and handcuffs. Now, pour the contents over your face and sit in it for 81 minutes.

The Shock-u-mentary style that Cohen has created may not last forever. The “film” barely counts as a motion picture. And now, he's made films from all three of his original Da Ali G Show characters. Though I would love another attempt. Maybe the next time he could try a film with a script so he wouldn’t have to ad lib with his dick.

To compare this to an M. Night Shyamalan film, it’s not as bad as The Village but not as good as The Sixth Sense. Here’s hoping Cohen’s next film is a little more Signs and a little less Lady in the Water.