Yes, I endured ‘Bruno’, Sacha Baron Cohen’s latest character creation to hit cinemas. Admittedly, ‘Borat’ from 2006 had some brains to it, and while the movie had its handful of shocking moments, they didn’t completely overwhelm Cohen’s sometimes brilliant moments. The man is very talented, it’s just too bad he delves too far for laughs and will do anything to ignite controversy– the kind Sean Penn and George Clooney would kill for. ‘Bruno’ is a sad package. Cohen only goes for surface gags playing a homosexual fashion show host headed for America to become a major celebrity.

From the get-go, Cohen hits the audience over the head with heavy doses of unbelievable sexual imagery (usually covered with blurs) only meant to elicit an “Are you serious?!” response. Most audience members were covering their faces. That trend continues throughout most of this, and only sporadically do we get some of the genuine eye-opening moments the film is seemingly intended for. The film’s greatest strength comes in a scene showcasing the negligence of these psychotic parents with child-actors. During that moment, the laughs stopped and Cohen actually hit a good point. And he does a few other times, but most of the gags don’t make much sense. A few times he points out the hypocrisy of certain clueless celebrities (Paula Abdul among them). But overall, the movie is far too disturbing and outright offensive to most.  Cohen wants to paint a picture of America’s self-indulgence, intolerance, hypocrisy, and make every famous person look stupid. And he does create that, but by using and thriving off the very stereotypes he tries to lampoon. I’ll admit there are a few good jokes, and he hits a few good notes, but the shock factor is far too extreme, offensive and depraved. I left disturbed. Good thing ‘Bruno’, despite becoming the weekend’s number one movie, won’t have the popularity or staying power of ‘Borat’. I can’t believe this thing walked away with an ‘R’ rating, after apparently being edited down some — now that’s a scary thought.

[Rating:2/5]