"And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light." - 2 Corinthians 11:14

FILM REVIEW:

A few years ago when "Borat" hit screens, I refused to see it in theaters. It looked vulgar, crass, offensive, and obscene, and I wanted no part of it. A couple months after it's release, it hit my local discount movie theater, and due to extreme boredom paired with curiosity over it's rave reviews, I went to see the movie. And I laughed harder than I ever have in a movie theater in my entire life. I was offended, I was turned off, I was angry - but I was laughing so hard it really took me by surprise. With the release of another one of Sacha Baron Cohen's off-beat character films, "Bruno", I felt I owed it to him to see the movie on it's opening weekend.

And now I feel like I need to take a shower.

Where "Borat" was funny and offensive 90% percent of the time, "Bruno" is basically just disgusting and offensive 90% of the time. We learn that Bruno is a second rate fashion guru, shunned by his peers after a fashion week disaster involving a velcro suit. His goal is to go to America, and become a giant star so the world will love him. From this point on, if your idea of a good movie going experience is watching innocent Americans be subjected to graphic male nudity and homosexual acts one scene after another, you'll giggle yourself silly. I am not one of those people. Saying "Oh my word" didn't cut it for a couple of the scenes. I counted four people running for the exits during my relatively busy screening.

In defense of the movie, if you go to see a movie by Cohen, you have to expect to be offended - I just was hoping it would be funnier. Frankly, all of the funniest parts were in the trailer, and the controversial bingo scene was completely cut out. The best sequence in the film in my opinion involved Paula Abdul as Bruno's first guest on his talk show. Not having furniture, Bruno convinces Abdul to sit on a Mexican handy man who is bent over on the ground. Aside from that and the trailer, this is one comedy that really fails to deliver. I would give Bruno * 1/2 out of ****.