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July 10, 2009

At the Movies: 'Bruno' quickly goes out of style

By CHRISTY LEMIRE
AP Movie Critic

BRUNO

Director: Larry Charles

Cast: Sacha Baron Cohen, Gustaf Hammarsten

Rating: R for pervasive strong and crude sexual content, graphic nudity and language

Running time: 88 minutes
The problem with “Bruno” is Bruno himself. Compared to Borat — and it's impossible to avoid the comparison — there simply isn't enough to the character to build an entire feature-length film around him.

Both spring from the brash and creative mind of British comic Sacha Baron Cohen, who unleashed them upon the world through his sketch comedy program “Da Ali G Show.” Borat, the bumbling journalist at the center of the 2006 smash “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan,” provided a prism through which to explore people's prejudices, hypocrisies and foibles. Sure, Baron Cohen frequently shot fish in a barrel, but as Borat traveled across the United States trying to understand what makes us tick, the uncomfortable discoveries he made seemed endless. More importantly, for a comedy, they were usually funny.


 
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