Serious Movie Lover

Bruno and gaby

BRÜNO (2009/DVD) The scariest movie moment in 2009 didn’t arrive in the much ballyboo’d alt ending of Paranormal Activity, but in the unlikeliest of horror films: Sasha Baron Cohen’s Borat follow-up, Brüno. No, I’m not referring to the super close-up shot of an actual penis, talking, THROUGH THE PEE HOLE, that scandalized fly-over state Midwestern-types*, but to the terrifying Cage Fighting climax where our hero Brüno—an über-gay 19yo German fashionista who, in a fit of pique decided that the only way to be famous would be to un-gay himself—emerges on a CF ring in Arkansas made over as Straight Dave, the most anti-gay mancowboy in America.

Straight Dave gets the insanely drunk ex-con/sex offenders in the out of control auditorium riled up to an insane fever pitch by yelling out a barrage of absurd gay-bashing rhetoric, which is taken at face value and violently cheered on by the crowd.  So, pretty much exactly what Cohen pulled in Borat’s rodeo scene, but gay.  It serves him just as well here, though— the many psychotically out-of-control faces in the audience serve as the scariest punch line ever.  And these faces will stick with you.

"Whatever, it's no big deal."

Thanks to BrunoLover69 for posting these terrifying clips. (Beware: SPOILERS!)

HOLY COW! I have officially added the horrifying state of Arkansas to my list of Places I Will Never Ever Visit, Even If Only to Use Their Bathroom, right after Crowley, TX, and pretty much all of West Virginia.

Almost more entertaining than the actual film is the “enhanced” DVD commentary featuring Cohen and director Larry Charles dishing about just how many people in the film were in on the joke (surprisingly few! The only clued-in celeb was Harrison Ford, who has a memorable two-second cameo, gruffly rebuffing Brüno on the way out of a restaurant with a hearty F-bomb) and just how important it was that Cohen not be arrested while shooting in the States, which would’ve resulted in losing his visa and being deported—a major problem for a film production that relies on the incessant provocation of the ugliest of Americans. 

GRADE: B (FEATURE), A (BONUS MATERIALS)

*Be sure to check out the bulletin board comments at the bottom of Brüno’s IMDB.com page—there is priceless shit contained therein.  My favorite line, taken from “Are741”’s post entitled “The male nudity trend has to stop”, reads “Only a vagina can equal a penis on-screen, genitals are genitals and breasts are not.”