Bruno (4 Stars)

Sacha Baron Cohen's previous film, "Borat", is the funniest film that I've ever seen. "Bruno" – or should it be called Brüno? – also has a lot of laugh-out-loud moments, but the overall impression is disjointed. It attempts and succeeds in being scandalous, but the emphasis on scandal rather than humour leads to many scenes being dull.

One thing that annoys me as a fluent German speaker is that the film's German dialogue is so bad. Bruno and Lutz are supposed to be Austrians, but their accent is very bad, and at times even the grammar is messed up. That's because the two actors are British and Swedish respectively, but it's still not forgivable. A voice coach should have been employed to assist them.

The film begins in Austria and continues in America, with excursions to Israel and the Middle East. It follows Borat's style of making fun of people by not letting them know they're going to appear in a film, although there are more people in this film who're in on it, especially in the final scenes.

Bruno is the host of an Austrian fashion TV show, "Funkyzeit mit Bruno". After he's fired he goes to America with the intention of becoming a famous international celebrity. He wants to become the most famous Austrian since Adolf Hitler. He tries to trick politicians into having sex with him to become famous, before deciding that he needs to go into anti-gay therapy. He also travels to Israel to solve the Israeli conflict with Palestine.

Bruno met with leading Israelis and Palestinians. He managed to get them to agree that Hummus is healthy and tastes good. That's a start. Peace begins with common interests.

He tried to get them to shake hands. He almost succeeded. That's more than Donald Trump has ever achieved.

If you watch this film it's essential to watch the extra features on the disc. There are almost 90 minutes of deleted scenes. Really! Many of the scenes are so good, i.e. so funny, that it's impossible to understand why they weren't included. LaToya Jackson is so shallow that it's impossible not to laugh at her, and white supremacist Glenn Miller is so bigoted that he's also hilarious. Also, the string of scenes about Bruno's heartache after breaking up with his lover Diesel should have been included. The film only lasts a meagre 78 minutes, but by adding the best of the deleted scenes it could have been extended to 120 minutes, becoming a much better film in the process.

Special mention should be made of the manager Lloyd Robinson that Bruno hired in Los Angeles to make him a star. He's the person who was duped more than anyone else in the film, in many scenes over a period of months. He didn't suspect for a moment that Sacha Baron Cohen was the person masquerading as Bruno. Nevertheless, he's a good sport and has since highly praised the film. He even gave an interview which is included on the Blu-ray as an extra feature. He's a great guy!

Success Rate:  + 1.3

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