America, Say Hello to Bruno

Three years removed from "Borat", Sacha Baron Cohen has made yet another work of daring comic genius. Here is a shockingly bawdy, hysterically funny film that also has a social conscience. And how rare is that. "Bruno" will no doubt appall audiences with its raunch, making viewers laugh and squirm, often simultaneously. But beyond the comedy is a socially relevant commentary on American culture. As he did in "Borat", Sacha Baron Cohen uses "Bruno" as a vehicle through which he exposes the still prevalent existence of prejudice in our society. And did I mention it's funny?

The plot is pretty straightforward. Bruno, a flamboyantly gay fashionista from Austria, comes to America in hopes of becoming "the most famous gay Austrian entertainer since Arnold Schwarzenegger." In one of the film's most hilarious scenes, Bruno markets his television show to an unassuming focus group, and they are, to say the least, disgusted by what they see. In one of the film's raunchiest sequences, Bruno attends a swinger's party and walks around providing words of motivation, and asks if anyone wants a sandwich. You get the drift. The comedy in "Bruno" is strikingly similar to the comedy in "Borat", but so what? As long as Cohen continues to hit his targets with comic precision, his work will still come across as innovative.

Sacha Baron Cohen remains the most courageous man in show business, willing to place himself in the middle of seriously dangerous situations. If you think I'm exaggerating, wait until you see the scene in which Bruno sits by the campfire in the barren woods on a hunting trip with four homophobic men, with all four of the men looking as if they want to strangle him. Or the scene in which Sacha Baron Cohen, disguised as a wrestler, starts making love to his opponent in the ring, while the drunken, violent crowd throws chairs in his direction. Or the scene in which Bruno gets continually whipped by a dominatrix. The remarkable thing about Cohen is that he never loses character, not even in these scary situations. It's a magnificent performance of incredible consistency.

Many people will no doubt accuse "Bruno" of being homophobic, surely the same people who called "Borat" anti-Semitic, even though Sacha Baron Cohen is himself Jewish. What these people fail to realize is that the intent of "Borat" and "Bruno" is to denounce bigotry, not encourage it. By making Bruno such a flamboyantly gay character, and by pushing the limits of the R rating so strongly, "Bruno" tears the lid off what is considered socially acceptable, forcing even the most liberal, open-minded person to confront their own inner prejudices. Yes, "Bruno" is an outrageously funny, insanely ribald comedy. But most of all, "Bruno" is a call for tolerance.