Brüno

"That guy's queerer than blazes. He's queer. He's crazy. He put a hit on me. He took his clothes off."

             -Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) to his handlers after an unfortunate PR decision to chat with Brüno.

I didn't begin this review of Sacha Baron Cohen's Brüno with Ron Paul's outburst to cast aspersions on the Congressman. Ron Paul's not a bad guy. His stance on abortion is strangely theocratic for a Libertarian and his want of government deregulation in all aspects of business is decidedly turn of the 20th century and a relapse to the days of child labor, slave wages, heavy industrial pollution and unsafe work conditions but, all in all, he's not a totally worthless prick. Hell, for a Republican, he's Mother goddamn Teresa. He's one of the few politicians nowadays who will actually confront the United States' hypocrisy regarding human rights issues, question our imperial intentions abroad and put a burr in the ass of beltway insiders and political careerists.

I did begin the review with his outburst, however, to point out that most everyone is rather annoyed by mincing fags except mincing fags and hip fat chicks.

Which is why the character of Brüno is so much less effective than Borat.

With Borat, the "gotcha" interviews and unsuspecting candor were educed from the patsies trust (and the belief in their inherent superiority) toward a hirsute, dorky foreigner who spoke broken English and seemed too uncultured to be any true threat.

With Brüno... well... like I said, everyone dislikes precious queers. Which is why the wall (for most people) goes up immediately when confronted with a lisping, preening, prancing queen. Now, give him an Austrian accent and some ass-less chaps and see how far you get on the investigative journalism/comedy scale.

The lesson here: naive, playful foreigners = funny. Self-absorbed foreign homos = not so funny.

It's not that parts of Brüno aren't hilarious. It just seems too stretched and too played. And unfortunately, many of the marks appear to be coached.

Equally troubling is the inability to find anything humorous amidst the backdrop of the fashion industry. It is such a deformed freak show of undeserved celebrity, wealth and aesthetic hollowness that it already lampoons its own absurdity simply by existing.

Brüno has moments however:

- Plenty of full frontal male nudity including a talking penis.

- Champagne enemas.

- Simulated fellatio, rimjob and facial in front of a disgusted psychic.

- The mocking of Paula Abdul.

- Uncomfortable Middle East peace negotiations with Brüno as mediator.

- Parents of infant models agreeing to all sorts of horrors in order to get their baby a job.

- A boot camp sequence to toughen Brüno up.

- A redneck karate instructor teaching him how to fend off homosexuals armed with dildos.

- A trio of Alabama yahoos who take him hunting overnight.

- Calling out an African-American talk show audience on their homophobia.

- And chatting with an obviously "in denial" homosexual de-programming counselor who tells Brüno that a wonderful man has taken over and changed his life (referring to Jeebus, of course) to which Bruno asks, "Karl Lagerfeld?".

Now that's fucking funny.

For the most part though, Cohen rehashes the same type of humor from Borat to less effect. Worth a glance, but don't get too excited. The gimmick is wearing thin.

Let's hope Ali G. ain't next.