Brüno

Gay Austrian fashionista Brüno goes too far on his wildly popular TV show, Funkyzeit, and his career in Europe is over. He decides to move to Los Angeles to re-invent himself, meet new people and become über-famous. Trying variously to break into the worlds of acting, music, politics and celebrity media, Brüno blazes a trail across the world of cheap fame, leaving confusion and fury in his wake.

With Brüno, Sacha Baron Cohen continues his quest to sow outrage and discord amongst as many Americans as humanly possible – and if they’re famous, so much the better. It isn’t always clear who’s in on the joke and who isn’t, but more or less everybody is a target, regardless of age, race, religion or gender. Ostensibly, Cohen is aiming to expose the underlying prejudices of society, but that’s largely a convenient excuse for more slapstick, nudity, rednecks and off-colour jokes than you can shake a talking penis at. Which Brüno does. Repeatedly. What’s really astounding is how much Baron Cohen actually gets away with without being physically assaulted – confusing ‘Hamas’ with ‘hummus’ at a meeting between Israeli and Palestinian leaders, for example.

Clearly, Brüno isn’t for the faint of heart. It’s divided the critics, with some claiming it goes beyond comedy into the realms of genuinely uncomfortable viewing, and if you’re offended by graphic homosexual mime, painfully exposing interviews or Chris Martin, then stay away. On the other hand, if you like alternating between burying your head in your hands and laughing until it’s hard to breath, Brüno is definitely the film for you.

Marcus Kelly