Brno Blu-Ray with Sacha Baron Cohen, LaToya Jackson, Elton John (R) +Movie Reviews

Laughed so hard.... but not for the easily offended

scot16897 | Austin, Texas United States | 07/11/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This movie is *clearly* for those not easily offended. It is shocking and hysterical, but I don't think I could allow my parents to go see it.

Sasha Baron Cohen's latest creation, Bruno, makes his way to America to become uber-famous any way he can. And he goes through lots of different attempts on his way. Acting, interviewing celebrities, guesting on talk shows, becoming straight, he tries many methods, each with it's painfully funny result. You'll love the Paula Abdul interview, particularly.

The interactions with people are wonderful, and you will be appalled at what some parents will do to get their children into show business. Just stunning.

There are a lot of shocking/uncomfortable funny moments (be prepared for gratuitous male nudity), and I am no sure how they will hold up for repeated viewings, but in a crowded theater, it was a scream. The ending is worth the buildup, and stick around for the closing song.

I laughed so hard that my face was hurting, and my wife was crying from laughing so hard. It takes a while to recover, but soooooo worth it!

NOT for the kids."

And he doesn't look a thing like Borat

lochnessa7 | Half Hollow Hills, NY | 07/10/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have to see Bruno more than once, most people probably do too. That's because Bruno is one of those rare movies where you're laughing so hard at some parts you know you're missing the next funny thing. As gay, Austrian fashionista and celebrity-wannabe Bruno, Baron Cohen continues his jaw-droppingly crass and outrageous stealth comedy antics. Purportedly, Baron Cohen has been beaten up while in character, so it only seems fair that he makes his audience laugh hard enough to hurt.

Of course the usual Baron Cohen caveat is in order: yes, its offensive, yes, its gross, yes, there is a LOT of nudity, mostly male. If any of this is not your cup of tea, that's dandy, no hard feelings. If you don't mind the occasional sight of literally bouncing balls in the name of comedy, Bruno is pure gold.

Post Borat fame has probably necessitated that more of this movie be staged, with at least some of the people (a talk show host, the driver of an oncoming car) in on the joke. But scripted or natural- its wickedly funny. And enough of it is genuine- including Bruno's interview/sex tape with Ron Paul, parents of would-be baby stars volunteering their 12-month-olds to play Nazis, ex-gay ministers, straight-rally wrestling audiences and general bystanders to Bruno's public antics.

Bruno balances the line between social commentary and comedy like a model on a catwalk. As with Borat half the humor comes from people reactings (or not) to the character's outrageous behavior, and half from the eerily apt caricature Baron Cohen creates. Fame-hound Bruno is everything narcissitic, uninformed, vain and with the all-too-common undeserved sense of entitlement that makes up the worst of American pop culture. As with Borat, Bruno learns some life-lessons and grows as a person by the end of the movie- as Baron Cohen always seems to want to better his audience, even if he has to beat them over the head with a dildo to do it."

Perhaps the funniest and saddest movie to take on the gay is

Neil Kambeaze | Eugene, OR | 12/07/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I rented Bruno from NetFlix with mixed feelings. I had seen Cohen's other works, including Borat and the Ali G Show, both of which I found deceptively intelligent and political. His ability to make his characters' stupidity an incisive mirror which he holds up to society is mind-boggling. With Borat, I thought this form of comedy had reached it's highest point. I was wrong. Bruno goes further. Some are offended by the gratuitous male nudity. Deal with it. If looking at penises makes you deeply uncomfortable, you probably have issues that run deeper than Bruno. It's true that a lot of the content of the movie revolves around Cohen using his flamboyantly gay character Bruno to make conservative anti-gay types uncomfortable. This can be uncomfortable for the viewer as well, but with the ultimate pay-off of revealing America's deep-seated homophobia and questioning it.

SPOILER WARNING

The film's finale gathers a large number of red-neck cage-fight enthusiasts in an arena for an event hosted by "Straight Dave", Bruno's straight alter-ego. When they get a touching (if gratuitously gay) scene of male-male reconciliation and love, the fans go crazy with disgust. Some of the audience leave, some yell violent hate slogans, some throw drinks at Bruno and his lover. Several of the fans looks shocked and betrayed, several of them comically wearing "Straight Dave" T-shirts they'd gotten for the event. I even saw a few in the crowd who looked like they understood the point that Cohen was making. People who were suddenly more disgusted by the gross display of homophobic violence on the part of the fans than the homosexual love that was taking place within the cage.

While his methods may be questionable, I feel America is indebted to Cohen for his bravery, and that he is one of the single largest contributors to intelligent social commentary through comedy today."

All the people with negative reviews couldn't tell it would

C. Tatro | New York, NY United States | 02/21/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This movie shows how perverse our society is. Americans like to hide behind a righteous attitude of being the best and most civilized people on earth. Mostly this attitude comes from the religious zealots who make up the majority of our society. The people who did not like this movie should have gotten up and left but they did not. No one left during the two times I viewed it. And all of the people commenting negatively on here have not walked out either, neither from the theater or their living room.

The fact that we see former gay preachers trying to convert current gays is truly American. The fact that we see redneck southerners uncomfortable around someone who is different from them is also typical. It puts American stupidity right in our faces and that is why certain people do not like the movie. Just like his last movie we see all of our racist, sexist, and ignorant flaws right in front of us and we cannot deny the truth. On the surface this movie is funny. Deeper down we see yet another sad social experiment on our own people. And yet again we see that we may not be as just as our false personas would have us be. This country is racist, sexist and homophobic. That puts America way behind many other intelligent and progressive countries. If you need more proof than this movie, look at education statistics, job rates, standard of living and national laws of most all the other developed nations."

"I want to become the most famous Austrian superstar since H

Tommy Morais | New Brunswick, Canada | 01/08/2010

(4 out of 5 stars)

"After the movie Borat in 2006 Sacha Baron Cohen returned to the big screen in 2009 with another of his characters, gay Austrian (you read that right, it's not Australian) Bruno. 19 years old Bruno is known for hosting what is said to be the most famous German speaking television show outside of Germany "Funkyzeit mit Bruno", a show about fashion and for his flamboyant style. Bruno is doing well in the world of fashion but when he gets fired, his assistant leaves him and his lover dumps him he decides to leave for America in order to become famous by any means.When he comes to America Bruno tries a talent agency to get to stare in a big Hollywood movie and become famous, he unsuccessfully tries to starts a new television show, he does an interview, interviews people and he even tries to become straight amongst other things. He will do anything to get famous and is not ashamed of it which will end up in hilarious situations . Bruno to me was really funny, there were some moments were I laughed, others were I was in shock and others in which I didn't quite know what to think which I think was Baron Cohen's goal with this movie. There is a lot of nudity and other shocking things in this movie so be aware it's not for children and not everyone will like it because of it. Bruno goes far with homosexuality and if you are not comfortable with this then Bruno may not be for you. I have no problem with it at all and therefore enjoyed the movie and thought the character was great.

You may not like what Baron Cohen does but you can't deny his ability to re-invent himself, from his Ali-G character to Borat and others and keep what he does controversial, fresh and interesting . Bruno stands on its own and is not a Borat clone, there are a few similarities but the two are very different while retaining the same style of humor Baron Cohen is known for. If you are easily offended don't watch this, it's a different kind of humor that not everyone can appreciate. When it comes to Bruno it's pretty simple you will either love it or hate it. The rating here on amazon may prove otherwise but it's because of the mix of very positive and very negative reviews, there is hardly any middle ground.

"

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