In the end, what history will remember about Sacha Baron Cohenâs BrĂźno is its prerelease press blitz, a multifaceted, media- and continent-spanning, months-long tornado of garish visuals, nervous gay focus groups, premature accusations of homophobia, endless in-character TV appearances, and a series of highly theatrical, rigorously costumed premieres around the globe. Now that the film has landed, BrĂźnoâs unprecedented press blitz is revealed for what it is: not the lead-up to another uproarious collision of high satire and low comedy like Cohenâs 2006 smash Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, but a smoke screen for a film thatâs barely there.
Fears of BrĂźno dabbling in potentially dangerous homophobia are quickly vanquished, as the onscreen BrĂźno has little connection to any homosexual whoâs ever lived. Heâs a pornographic cartoonâclaims of âgay minstrelsyâ are not unfoundedâbut the tissue-thinness of both Cohenâs characterization and BrĂźnoâs plot makes the whole exercise far more insulting to its makersâ reputations than to any social group.
For newcomers: Like Borat, BrĂźno is a character Cohen played on Da Ali G Show, first on the UKâs Channel Four, then on HBO. A flamboyantly gay Austrian fashion reporter, BrĂźno would lispingly lead various fashionistas down hilariously incriminating rabbit holes, illuminating the frantic amorality of those who place nothing above style. At the start of the BrĂźno film, our roving correspondent stumbles into a mess that gets him fired from TV, freeing him up to move to America and commence becoming a superstar.
From this point of departure, BrĂźno wanders here and there, occasionally stumbling into inspired hilarity but more often than not settling for sub-funny junk. Things get good when BrĂźno is given a compelling context: The close-to-closing scene at a cage-fighting match in the Deep South is the filmâs richest, making a hilarious show of folks who think nothing of watching two guys tear the shit out of each other but cry out for blood should their tongues (or more) entwine. Another good couple of scenes throw BrĂźno in the figurative ring with Christian âgay conversionists.â But far too much time is wasted on meaningless foolishness with all the wit of Eddie Murphy in a fat suit. For those of us who loved Borat (and Da Ali G Show), itâs depressing.